Dangerous infiltration mission
by Krapo
Summary: Narusaku. Naruto and Sakura are send by the Hokage for a difficult infiltration mission. They will have to face more than just the danger itself as they will have to keep their cover to be fake husband and wife credible. how it will impact the relationship between the two ninja. Growing Love. Misunderstanding.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER CORRECTED: I THANK VERY MUCH MY BETA READER Official Nyl**

 **I do not own NARUTO**

After ''How i fell in love with my best friend'' I have began a new story. I need your opinion if i continue to write it or not. I am just at the beginning but i hope you will enjoy your reading

 **Dangerous Infiltration Mission**

 _Post War. Naru/Saku_

 _After the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Naruto won over Sasuke. Sasuke still departed for his trip of repentance, and Sakura wanted to join him but he refused, telling her she had nothing to do with his sin. Time continued to pass in Konoha with mission and daily life. Naruto studied hard to become a Jounin, his first step on the path to becoming Hokage; meanwhile Sakura was promoted head medic in the hospital._

 _Naruto and Sakura grew closer and became best friends, sharing all their free moments. After all they went through in the previous years, it felt only natural for them to stick together. They began by training together exclusively, as few other ninja were as powerful as they were. They became known as fearsome ninja; carrying on the legacy of the legendary Sannin_ _._

 _ **Chap 1 : The Mission Order**_

Four years have passed since the war.

Life had a strange sense of humor, or seemed to enjoy ironic occurrences: the shortest, scrawniest blond of all his classmates at the Ninja Academy became the tallest of the group, and his resemblance to the fourth Hokage was so impressive that nobody doubted his legacy when it was officially announced.

Time had clearly been generous to him, his body was sculpted from hours of training, and his attitude was more regal after Tsunade taught him how to lead. All of this had made him one of the most eligible bachelors in all of Konoha. "Mister Popular" the former Hokage often joked, talking about him and the horde of fangirls swooning after his innocent smile. Anyone would have gotten carried away with so much attention, but Naruto seemed to be genuinely as clueless as ever. It was funny to see his curious expression when someone offered him a gift or smiled seductively at him. He was always embarrassed, not understanding why someone would offer him something and looked first behind him to see if the gesture of affection was not for someone else. He was the most handsome, dense, and naive guy around. He was so ignorant of his newfound sex-appeal, it seemed it was impossible for him to conceive that a girl could be head-over heels for him.

Today was one of those days when Shikamaru wished he was not the Hokage's advisor, and that he did not have to fetch Naruto for a new important mission. He sighed as he spotted the shaggy blond hair of the infamous ninja. The sight of the blond head surrounded by a group of girls had been interesting, and the strategist had hesitated a while before deciding to involve himself in a troublesome situation with dangerous women. The sight of the strongest shinobi of all time, lost in the middle of a group of heated women after his body, could have made any of his enemies laugh. He was nearly invincible; the ultimate weapon; the hero of Konoha, feared and respected by all ninja, and the man looked completely helpless in front of the crowd of girls.

Naruto stuttered and blushed like a virgin as the girls pawed at his tee-shirt. Shikamaru snickered at him, deciding to finally give a hand to his friend before they got any further. He immobilized the group with his shadow possession jutsu, and looking at the shade of red on the blond's face, he wondered if he was still not really virgin after all. "You should take the rooftop next time you try to go to Ichiraku" he advised him.

Immediately the blond jumped out of the throng of girls, trying to smooth out his rumpled and distressed clothes, and landed gracefully on the nearest roof. Shikamaru released his jutsu and followed the blond on the roof. "You're needed at the Hokage's office" he informed his friend.

Naruto looked down at his ripped tee-shirt "I have to go change first, I think," he sighed, "I don't understand why they attacked me like that... I didn't do anything to them" he muttered, sounding a little sad. ' _I thought that they had finally accepted me. After all, they stopped beating me up when I began being a ninja. Why are they attacking me again?'_ thought the blond.

Shikamaru looked at the man with wide eyes, listening to his muttering. "They weren't attacking you... Not like you think at least." He pulled out a cigarette, needing something to relax, the man he swore to help was an idiot. The strategist tried to convince him that the girls weren't trying to attack him, but that they wanted to get into his pants. But the blond was deaf to his explanation, instead laughing at him and saying that he was being ridiculous, that no girl saw him like that. The strategist understood rapidly that the blond was so focused on his beloved pink-haired teammate who had rejected him half of his life, that he was sure that he must be nothing close to desirable. Shikamaru sighed and walked off muttering 'Troublesome idiot".

The Nara heir landed at Ichiraku and spotted Sakura. Shikamaru noted the smile that stretched across her face when she heard the discrete sound of a ninja landing. ' _She expect it to be Naruto'_ , he guessed. "Naruto! You're late!" she scolded him affectionately, before stopping abruptly, registering that the man behind her was neither blond, nor smiling. Instinctively she pouted disappointedly. The Nara observed her brief involuntary expression. The pink-haired girl was as dense as her teammate to not acknowledge her own infatuation for the blond. "Sorry, I thought you were Naruto for a second," she simply stated, returning to a more composed expression.

"He's been summoned to the Hokage's office. You're supposed to go too." He informed her, exhaling a cloud of cigarette smoke. ' _Troublesome people!'_ She crossed her arms angrily in front of her chest.

"What an idiot! We could have gone together in that case."

Shikamaru, unfazed, continued to exhale another puff of smoke. ' _It could be interesting to see his nagging teammate take care of the problem at hand with the ravenous girls_.' "He had to go change first, some girls ripped his clothes again." He generously let the information slip in a nonchalant fashion, sure that it would not fall on deaf ears. She was the best protection for the blond's chastity; no other girl felt comfortable bothering him without fearing repercussion when Sakura was around. She would narrow her eyes in a fearsome manner that gave the receiver of her look chills down their spine. Strangely, she didn't realise herself what she did; she still believed that she was exclusively in love with the Uchiha .

Naruto entered the Hokage tower in his Jounin attire, earning a shocked glance from one of the elders. The competency that he exuded, his confident steps, and the evident power that he radiated made his presence known. For a moment, the old woman thought that she might have seen a ghost, a ghost more alive than any other ghost, until she noticed the whiskers on his face. ' _The fox kid_.' The old woman's gaze followed his figure until he disappeared up the stairs. Only then did she close her gaping mouth. ' _He had grown up well! He may be even more handsome than the Fourth.'_ She thought.

Now it was not only his physical appearance that reminded some of the late Fourth Hokage, but also his mature attitude which had calmed slightly over the years. Naruto was now more wise, and was every bit the ninja he dreamed he could become. He had improved a lot, amazingly, but at his heart he was still the knuckle-headed ninja who frustrated Sakura's patience from time to time.

The gray haired Hokage glanced at the blond who had just entered his office, and stood tall and straight in front of his desk. Kakashi grumbled inwardly, having nearly called him Minato-sensei, and not for the first time. The blond had recently had the stupid idea to let his hair grow a little, strengthening the resemblance. If the two were to stand side by side the differences between them would be few. ' _Why on Earth, did the brat have to grow his hair?'_ The Sixth Hokage wondered, looking at his two former students. His eyes passed from the blond, back to the pinkette. Sakura too had begun to let her hair grow again. Sakura, he could understand. But Naruto was now dangerously similar to Kakashi's long dead mentor, making it hard to not call him by the wrong name. Kakashi sighed. As a Jounin, Naruto got to dress with the regular Jounin attire: in dark blue long pants and matching long shirt with the green flak jacket. The sight was too troubling.

The Hokage collected himself, he still had work to do and unlike his late father, Naruto was still far from patient. The blond had stunningly improved on many points, but his impatience and recklessness still remained. "Your mission..." he began, and saw Naruto's expression grow serious... it was too distracting. He sighed again, hiding his eyes with his hand to interrupt the sight. "Can you cut your hair?" he half pleaded.

The blond lifted an eyebrow in a questioning expression. "That is your important mission?" he asked incredulously. ' _I abandoned lunch with Sakura… for that?!'_ he thought. The blond ninja began to get irritated just at the thought of his wasted time when Sakura sent jabbed an elbow in his ribs.

"Let him finish!" she muttered roughly.

Naruto grumbled angrily in response, like a scolded child, that she was unfair to him.

Kakashi smiled discreetly at the two ninja before him, bickering like an old couple. They were even more suited to the mission at hand than he had originally thought. He cleared his throat, finding a justification to his strange request. It wasn't planned, but it could still work. "It's for the mission! You need to look presentable and credible." He simply lied. "You two are being assigned an infiltration mission in the Land of Green Rock. We're suspicious that the local lord is trying to create a revolt against the Fire Daimyo, but we have no proof yet, or an idea of what his plan is... your job is to find out before we take action." Kakashi informed before letting his chin rest on his hand, looking at them with a sly smile that they could not detect under his mask.

He paused for the suspense, amused at the prospect of witnessing his former students expressions as he gave them the last major detail of the mission. Naruto moved first, stretching his hand toward the Hokage to receive his orders, assuming the briefing was finished when Kakashi did not immediately continue. The gray haired man rolled the scroll back and forth on the desk with a lazy finger, his eye scrutinizing the two ninjas faces for a few seconds with apparent seriousness. Deciding to fill them in on the final details, he spoke, "So, you will cut your hair to look like a proper lord for this infiltration mission," he ordered Naruto, who dropped his hand waiting for the end of the briefing. Kakashi's eyes betrayed his amusement when he looked at Sakura, "and you will be assuming the role of his wife."

In perfect synchronization, the two ninja screamed "WHAT?!". Both were blushing red from their heads to toes with their mouths wide open… but not for the same reason _._ When he saw that they were now speechless, as though hit by a thunderstorm, Kakashi covered his amusement under a mask of professionalism and calmly unplugged his ears in response to the scream. He extended the scroll for one of them to take it, his eyes now becoming serious. "All of the details are in it. You will be granted a fake identity with a pass to cross the borders. A boat will depart the day after tomorrow, early in the morning. A contact is there, and will give you everything you need for your role. You'll need to leave within the next two hours to get there on time, so don't take your time." he stated with a perfect composure.

Kakashi's hand movement pulled Sakura out of her stupor, and the green eyes landed on the scroll. In the wake of her shock, she momentarily forgot how to breathe, and then regained her ability to speak shortly after. "Kakashi-sensei... Why Naruto and me?"

Naruto glanced at her, noting how red she had become _._ He sighed, a little disappointed that she was so disgusted to be his fake wife. He would forever be 'just a friend' to her. Somehow, he had always known that her heart belonged to Sasuke, but accepting the knowledge was beyond painful _._ He focused his eyes on a point on the wall behind Kakashi, masking his emotion. ' _There no need to cry for something that never existed in the first place, she never wanted me._ _As long as she is happy, I should be happy'_ he thought.

Kakashi, without losing his seriousness, looked straight at them even though he wanted to roll on the floor and laugh. He was a master at sweet-talking people, this would be a piece of cake. "You're my best team, Team 7... there is nothing that you can't do together." He smiled discreetly seeing that invoking the nostalgic Team 7 was like a magic spell on them. They both nodded in approval.

But Sakura did not let go of the subject, and she was quick to grasp at an argument. "Just one of us isn't enough?" she proposed with hope. She didn't mind doing the job by herself.

Kakashi studied her, she was a hard one to convince. "The stolen identities are of a couple, so this can't be done solo. Naruto and you are our best shot for a quick, efficient dissolution of any threat to Konoha." He noted that she didn't waver at his words, and was still sceptical. He would have to give her more incentive, and try using another trick to sway her. "Well, if you really don't want to be his teammate for this mission, I can ask Ino to be your replacement. Naruto is strong and might be able to push himself far enough to do it all by himself, I suppose nothing can really kill him." he drolled, still studying her. He had bet everything on his last proposition, trying to push her into accepting the mission by insinuating that Naruto could put himself in danger if he went alone, and invoke her pride by proposing to replace her with her rival. It was a dirty trick to use Naruto's safety, as she would go to any length to protect him, but it had to be done and had the faintest sliver of truth to it, so his guilt at using such tactics was assuaged. Kakashi smiled inwardly, ' _She will break any moment_.'

From the moment Kakashi had given her the order to be Naruto's fake wife, Sakura had been remembering her last girl talk with Ino. A few weeks ago, the sexy blond woman had been lying on her bed while painting her nails and they had began to uncomfortably talk about boys. Her best friend and rival had tried to convince her to stop waiting for Sasuke, calling him a heartless jerk. She had some good arguments when she pointed that Sasuke was never interested in her in the first place, instead calling her and her affections "annoying", and that he tried to kill her. Sakura had been on verge of crying in self pity when the biggest gossip of Konoha turned around the table, scanning all eligible men of the village. She didn't really paid much attention to the Ino's blabbering until she mentioned Naruto with an unusual spark of interest. The way the blond woman had made his name roll on her tongue, as if he was a sweet treat, was perturbing. She remembered the glint in the clear blue eyes when she commented on how he had changed, and how he would make an excellent potential lover.

Sakura had known that her face was red. She just couldn't wrap her head around playing his wife. He was everything to her, but not her lover, not even a fake lover! She completely refused it. _He was her close friend… like… almost like a brother!_

' _Why them? Why did this mission require two ninja?'_ She thought. She wasn't usually one to argue with the Hokage, but this time, it seemed so wrong to her that she could not stop herself from asking. But the answer Kakashi gave her left her with no choice. The thought of Ino completely undressing her best friend with her words, her description of him so precise that she wondered a moment if Ino had not developed the ability to see through clothes. The carnal interest that the blond woman had displayed for him was worrisome.

Sakura shuddered at the Hokage's last argument, another image popping in her mind. A reminder of when she had to pump his heart with her bare hand to keep him alive. Sakura gritted her teeth, she could not abandon her idiot to face this type of danger alone. She was his teammate and best friend. "No it's fine! I'll go!" she accepted the mission, grabbing the scroll from Kakashi's extended hand.

Kakashi looked victorious while Sakura was silently having a breakdown. The gray haired man stood from his desk, and motioned to the door. "You've got to get ready now, you have two hours to leave." He sat back in his chair, adding "And Naruto... Don't forget your hair... Short ! Very short!" he insisted, before the two left, leaving both ninja with perplexed looks. ' _It was too funny!'_ he thought, laughing after he was sure they were out of hearing range.

XXXXX

Do not forget to review to let me know if i should continue


	2. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER CORRECTED!** _

_THANKS TO MY BETA READER OfficialNyl_

 _Thanks to Troa andLynnM for their support!_

 _It was harder to write this story as I did not got much support on my first one. But I will try to wrap it up before I got completely demotivated._

 _ **Chap 2 : Growing Up**_

In the years that passed after the war, Sakura certainly did not realize that her best friend had grown up. Even as Naruto finished his final growth spurt, becoming a full foot taller than her, she did not acknowledge that he was everything that a young adult could be. Call it blindness, or utter denial, but he was still just the brat to her. He was the same Naruto she'd always known, and only that Naruto to her.

She was a little early at the village gate, but she didn't mind waiting for him, and used the time at hand to study the mission scroll. Their contact would wait for them in a small guest house where they would receive everything they needed to take on their assumed identities: a husband and wife duo named Natsu and Hana Kentoro. She growled, rolling her eyes at the fatal mention of their fake relationship. _It was a pain, but she would deal with it_... Their target was a Lord from Green Rock country, Nao Hentama _._ The man was in his mid-thirties with a solid fortune. Some notes were added to qualify him as a cunning man that might have used some underhand methods to gather his wealth. The description of his household was complete with a detailed blueprint of the house and bio of his family. _First was his main wife and their two children, a 10 year old daughter and a 6 year old son. After was his two concubines with each one daughter..._

She lifted her eyes from the scroll to greet her traveling partner when he arrived, and she blinked twice at a loss for words. He shyly rubbed his neck in an anxious gesture, with a light blush on his cheeks. "Do you think it's too short?" he asked, unsure. She blinked again... _It's Naruto's voice..._ Her eyes scanned the handsome man's face... _It's Naruto eyes… But what happened to him? ... His hair!_ She had completely forgot about Kakashi's order to get his hair cut for the mission because she was so focused on her own troubles. Her brain finally registered his question hastily, "It should be fine..." She lowered her eyes to the scroll, both to stop herself from staring at him and to prevent the rapidly appearing blush from growing on her cheeks. _I hate Ino and her stupid blabbering._

He had hoped beyond hope that the short hair suited him. The hair dressed had assured him that it made him look more mature, and that it enhanced some nice features in his face or something like that. Naruto had wanted to believe him… but after seeing Sakura's reaction, he was sure that he looked the same as he always did. _Lying barber!_ She was unfazed; neither long hair, nor short hair, could attract her attention. _Nothing will never change._ He sighed and bent over her shoulder to read the scroll.

Sakura froze at having his face so close to her own. She was not ready to acknowledge him changing. _Not now!_ She abruptly closed the document. "We should go or we'll be late" she suggested, packing away the mission order. Obediently he followed her when she departed, running and jumping through the dense forest surrounding their beloved village.

XXXXX

They traveled at a fast pace until late at night. They then decided to stop for few hours to rest a little in a clearing. Naruto went around to place some security seals and traps for their safety, while Sakura began to set up their makeshift camp.

The sound a leaf crunching under foot told Sakura that Naruto had came back at their campsite. "What took you so long? Weren't you just setting a few traps?" she asked, before glancing over her shoulder irritably. The answer was blatant and her eyes opened a little wider at the sight of her best friend. He was still all wet, with only his underwear on, his clothes in a messy bundle in one arm and two fish in the other.

"There is a river not far... I thought that it would be nice to eat some fish tonight." He smiled happily, dropping his clothes on his sleeping bag and put the fish on a stick. After standing the stick in the ground he aimed a fire jutsu at them and quickly grilled the fish. He offered one of the fish to Sakura, while he began eating the other, still sitting nonchalantly in only his underwear.

Sakura frowned as Inner Sakura was screaming _'Since when Naruto became a man?'_

Naruto looked curiously at her. "Did I burn your fish?" he asked, seeing her frown. "We can trade if you want... mine is good" he offered. She shook her head, relaxing her expression to one more neutral. Naruto continued, "I don't mind if it's a little overdone. I used to eat them burnt to a crisp if I pissed off Pervy sage." he insisted. Naruto, completely unaware of anything related to his physical appearance, stood up to come toward her to exchange their fish.

"The fish is fine!" she assured him, lowering her eyes to the fish. A light blush appeared on her cheeks, even with restraint she couldn't hide her inner turmoil. His wet underwear were sticking to him like a second skin, and it was evident that he was a man now. _Why Ino had put all those stupid ideas about Naruto in my head... What will happened to us if I am not able to interact normally with him? I'm turning into a real pervert if I begin to look at him like that_.

Fortunately, he did not insist as his usual naivety clouded his interpretation of the way women could look at him. He took another bite of his fish, and inquired about the contents of the scroll. Sakura thanked him internally to bring her attention to something other than his physique. She explained the situation with their target to him, and her ideas about how to begin their search. Her relief was short lived as he then asked a very important question about the mission that she had neglected, "What's our names?"

She read him the description of their fake identities and, involuntarily, her eyes raked over the well built body of her pretend husband. She stopped herself at the waistband of his underwear, the souvenir of Ino's words ringing in her ears, _'I am sure he must be wild in bed'_. She cleared her throat and hid her face behind the scroll, pretending to read more information to explain it to him. Without understanding anything that she was reading, she repeated the mission order to him, verbatim. He yawned, visibly bored, and stretched his arms above his head before lying down on top of his makeshift bed. "You're not gonna get dressed? Or get under the covers?" she demanded, surprised.

He chuckled "Nah! It's too damn warm tonight... Even after my swim, I still feel too hot". He closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep, and she gulped with difficulty at the sight of all of the exposed skin. _It's just Naruto, Baka Naruto..._ She repeated to herself like a mantra, avoiding looking at him as much as possible. She lied down and turned to face the direction opposite to him, shutting her eyes tight. _Just Naruto, Baka Naruto..._

XXXX

Being two high level shinobi, they traveled faster than they needed to get to the port on time. They arrived late at night in the inn where they were supposed to meet their contact the next morning. Naruto entered first and went straight to the counter to ask for two room. The staff member recognized his sign on the headband and the pinkette joined the blond. The man studied them both. "Konoha ninja... what is the password?" he asked.

Naruto looked puzzled, but Sakura intervened immediately remembering the code from the scroll "The dog is his master, best friend".

Naruto snorted. _I'm sure that it was Kakashi's code,_ he thought.

The man nodded. "Follow me!" he ordered, and began to climb up the stairs. The two ninja stepped behind him until he entered a room. He pointed the few big luggage bags in a corner of the room, "Everything you'll need should be in those". The two ninja thanked him, and Naruto asked him again about the accommodations for the night, hoping for two rooms. The man lifted an eyebrow, asking him "Aren't you supposed to be a couple? This room should be enough," and he closed the door behind him, leaving two blushing ninja in the middle of the room.

Sakura shifted her weight to her other leg, and Naruto chuckled uncomfortably. "Well... You can take the bed if you want, and I'll take the floor" he offered.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "It will be more fair if we play for it in an arm-wrestling..." she suggested with a defiant glare, before Naruto interrupted her.

An affectionate smile graced his features and he shook his head "Don't waste your energy on me. Tsunade Baa-chan would kill me if I didn't give up the bed to a girl, especially after all those hours teaching me proper etiquette," he insisted.

A smirk stretched across Sakura's lips, "Afraid?" she teased him, and he pouted, offended that she thought that he would be afraid when he had just tried to be chivalrous. Seeing his expression, she could not suppress her laugh, and patted his shoulder gently, "Just joking Naruto... Thank you! It is a nice gesture. I won't forget to tell Tsunade-seishou that you've become a fine gentleman," she told him between small chuckles. He blushed lightly at the praise, even if it was disguised as teasing. He saw her go to the luggage. There were five big bags, with no information on them, so each one of them pulled one close and opened it.

Sakura glanced appreciatively at the contents of the case she was looking through. The real Natsu and Hana must have been quite wealthy judging from the quality of the silk of the precious kimonos stored in the bag. A black notebook attracted her attention, and she began to read it. The full life of Hana Kentoro was described in it, from the disease she got as a kid, to what she liked, and how she acted. She lifted her eyes to Naruto to share the information and found him immobile like a statue, his hand clasped on the case's cover and eyes glued on the contents. His face was as red as his own blood. "Naruto?" she called to him, and instinctively his eyes connected with hers.

"Sorry!" he hastily muttered, closing the bag like it was on fire, and turned around hiding his face with his hands.

A little curious, she lifted up the cover of the baggage. Her blood boiled immediately, and she punched him unceremoniously. His body flew, hitting the wall at the other side of the room, and he crashed on the floor with a bloody nose. "Naruto!" she growled standing in front him like a creature out of hell.

He waved his hands in front of him in a protective gesture, "I swear I didn't know! How could I have known? Sorry!" he pleaded, shutting his eyes and bracing himself for the impact of her expected hit.

The owner of the inn heard a loud crashing sound. "So they're the S&M type?" he mumbled, then shrugged and continued to read his book. It was a gift from his old friend from the Hidden Leaf, 'Icha Icha Make out'.

After beating him up, she calmed down and checked the bag to make sure there wasn't any other inappropriate items to be seen. She blushed, closing the bag he had opened where a plethora of underwear and nightwear she was suppose to wear for her role resided. She did not even know if she would dare put on those things. They were beautiful for sure, but so provocative.

When he woke up from his unconscious state, he noted that all of his bruises had disappeared. Sakura must have healed him before going to bed. She was now sleeping peacefully, her head turned towards the wall, and his sleeping bag was already prepared for him on the floor. He smiled affectionately. Even if she was extremely mad at him, she always went out of her way to heal him and take care of him somehow. Near his improvised bed were a couple of the luggage bags with a note on them indicating that they were his. He opened them and saw the clothes that he was suppose to wear and the notebook with all the information needed for his role. He pulled out the notebook, and went to sit at the window to read it.

In the morning, Sakura woke up first and looked down at her teammate who was sprawled on the floor. Again, he was clad in only his underwear, and the black notebook lie forgotten near his head. The sun was barely up, but the room was already a sauna. She could understand why he did not wear clothes, if she had been with a girl instead of him, she would have ended up in a similar state of undress. She was fuming. It wasn't fair that he could so casually undress in front of her, without a care for the proper boundaries that should be respected between different genders.

It had been a while since they went on a long mission together during the summer. The last time, he was still a teenager. Her eyes roamed across his chiseled chest... _He was not a kid_. _.. nor a teenager... She didn't want him to change._ _He was Naruto, only Naruto_. She got angry at him. _How dare he change that much under her nose?_ She shook his shoulder violently, "Wake up Naruto Baka! Wake up or we'll miss the boat!"

He opened a lazy eyelid and then closed it. She was ready to scold him again, but he moved, stretching his whole body, his arms above his head and his back arched like a cat. ' _I'm a pervert'_ she thought to herself while she stared at him. All of his muscled were gracefully tensed, the sensual curve of his back enhanced his toned stomach and his strong chest. She kicked herself mentally and flew to the bathroom to prepare for the day. He opened his eyes completely when he heard the slamming door. He jumped up after, thinking ' _I should not slack off, she's still in bad mood. Better be on time or she will kill me.'_

When she finally emerge from the bathroom nearly fully dressed in a complicated kimono, her hair done in a bun, and her face painted like a doll, she looked around the room and found him nowhere. It was just her luck. It was always when she needed him that he would go for a stroll. She began to mumbled angrily but stopped instantly as the door opened. Naruto was not alone, two young boys were following him. But it wasn't the kid's presence that petrified her. It was him. He was the perfect image of a lord the way he carried himself. He lifted his hand authoritatively to stop them before they entered the room. "Hana, My love. I hope we are not disturbing you."

She was surprised like a deer in the headlights. Shocked was a more correct term for her state. He was already impersonating Natsu Kentoro and he was doing it a little too well. The tone of his voice, sultry and haughty at the same time; the seductive smirk from a husband to his wife while looking at her, and his assured gesture of a man born wealthy, made her even doubt that he was her childhood friend.

"Wait for me!" he ordered the two boys, and closed the door on them before coming to sit behind Sakura to help her tie her obi. "How is my Natsu?" he asked playfully, proud of his little act. She straightened her shoulders; she could not let herself fall behind him.

"My dear husband, you are amazing..." She replied sweetly, looking over her shoulder with a seductive glance, "Really unpredictable!" she added with a flirting tone.

He blushed, breaking his role, and clumsily fumbled with her obi. "You're all done, my beautiful wife," he told her, his voice a bit lower than what he had intended. He stood abruptly turning around and facing the door and rubbing his neck. "I should tell the kids to take our luggage... I figured out that it was not proper for a lord to carry them himself" he justified. She chuckled at his attitude, and was strangely happy to embarrass him.

She stood up and latched her arm with his, entering her role. "Please do, my love!" she invited. His heart beat like crazy at the endearing term, and he had to fight the blush that began to spread across his cheeks.

XXXXX

Thanks to review, it's important for the author. (Please no insult, it did not bring any good to anyone)

fav & follow are really appreciate too! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANKS TO OfficialNyl and her wonderful work!**

 **xxxx**

Special thanks to Troa for his constant support.

Guest007: Thanks, as you guessed, i have many trick up my sleeve to make this story develop

Merchant of blue death: Thank you for your constructive remark. But i don't have a beta. Do you want to become it? For the "blablabla" i don't understand what you mean and how i could correct it.

DancingMarionette: They are so cute, i agree! they were meant to be together

Ultranx: Thank you so much. It warm up so much my heart that my work is not so poor.

Guest: Thank you! i find too that there is not enough Naru/Saku story. How come when i think that they are so cute together and the absolute logical couple (if you forget just the very last chapter and the last movie, that turn everything up-side-down)

I write for those that support me. I write to share. I write to have fun with you guys. ENJOY YOUR READING!

 _ **Chap 3: Being Credible**_

Their luggage was lifted up onto the boat by the crew, and the captain came to greet them as they climbed aboard. "Mister Kentoro, it is a pleasure to meet you," the older man said, bowing deeply before nodding politely in Sakura's direction, acknowledging her presence. "You have a lovely wife," he commented to Naruto, who protectively wrapped his arm around Sakura's waist. The blond smiled appreciatively to his fake wife, bringing her closer to him. She wanted to punch him, but Hana wouldn't do that, so neither could she. Hana was in love with her husband; a husband that she had met through an arranged marriage, but loved nonetheless.

He praised her, "Isn't she the most beautiful woman on Earth?" His tone sounded so sincere that she would have blushed so bright her cheeks would shine through the heavy makeup she wore, had she not known he was only acting.

"Indeed, very beautiful... My lord has good taste," the man gestured to them to proceed, "Welcome on board, let me introduce you to my crew and to your lodgings on my vessel." The man made them walk around the deck explaining everything about the ship to Naruto, ignoring Sakura's presence. The Kunoichi fumed. Outside of the ninja village the difference in the treatment of men and women was still so great that it made her blood boil. The men were all-powerful, while the women were trophies and broodmares.

Naruto took advantage of an unsupervised second, when a crew member pulled the captain aside, to whisper discreetly in Sakura's ear. "Are you ok Sakura-chan? You are all tensed up." The breathy words caressed her skin sensually, and she felt warmer.

 _It must be because of the clothes. They were too tight, and far too warm!_ Sakura thought to herself. "There's nothing to worry about, my dear" she assured him in a manner similar to what Hana would have done, to remind him to not break character. He turned his attention back to the captain, who informed them that the boat was ready to depart. He invited them to follow him to his command post, and they simply enjoyed the spectacle of the sail being lifted up.

The slow rocking of the sea soon began. The sky and the sea melted into each other at the horizon. Naruto continued his discussion with the captain, while a queasy feeling grew in Sakura's belly as the boat sailed farther away from the shore. She involuntarily leaned against Naruto as the wind in the sail pushed on one side the boat. Under normal circumstances she would have kept her balance on her own, but she wasn't quite herself at the moment. Her breathing was becoming more and more swallow, her head was spinning, and her stomach was turning at each sway of the sea. Naruto's arms came instinctively around her frame, and a frown marred his handsome face. Her hands gripped his kimono and she felt the bile rising in her throat. "Help me to the railing, will you?" she mumbled, restraining herself from puking on him. His eyes widened, understanding that she was sea sick. Quickly, he carried her to the railing, and supported her while she was emptying her stomach.

The captain came laughing to their side, "Women do not like sea... They're frail creatures! But you have very good reflexes, my Lord. "

Sakura would have loved to snap his neck in a normal situation, but her current sickness was inhibiting her from even standing unassisted. Another spasm passed through her, and she bended more on the railing. She felt Naruto's arms protectively holding her against him to keep her from falling overboard. When the sick feeling passed she felt empty and tired. She would have slumped down on the floor, had her blond companion not swept her up unto his arms to carry her. "I will not accept anymore comments about my wife..." he said pointedly to the captain, the tone he employed breathed authority, "Show us our cabin, my wife needs to rest now" he request imperiously. The older man cowered under the glacial blue eyes and he hastily nodded.

A man with gray hair accompanied them to their cabin. Sakura's body was limp as though void of life force, and Naruto helped to lie her down comfortably on the bed. Without asking for permission, he untied her obi to help her breathe better. Her head snapped up, and she seemed to come right back to life. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, outraged.

He blinked. For once there were no perverse thoughts in his head, as he was focused solely on her well-being. Suddenly, he realized where his hand was, and his fingers felt like burning noting the position they were on to support her while his other hand pulled the Obi out. "As your husband... can't I help my wife?" he asked tentatively with humor in his voice. Her eyes glared daggers, and he feared for his life.

Fortunately for Naruto, the doctor barged in without knocking on the door, which made her transfer her anger to the inconsiderate man. The man shivered in front of the murderous glare he received. _This woman is a wild animal!_ "The-the captain send me..." he stuttered. Naruto recovered from his fear, recognizing that it was the perfect moment to escape. He stood up with a Lord-like attitude and invited the man to come closer to his wife. The medic stepped forward carefully, and the pinkette calmed down, letting her body fall back on the mattress. His hand touched her forehead and her pulse. "Is she pregnant?" he asked Naruto, and she felt indignant at his question until she remembered that as Naruto's fake wife, he would be privy to this information.

"I'm not," she stated, even if the doctor was more interested in talking to Naruto.

The doctor nodded, "So it is simply some mild heatstroke coupled with seasickness" he concluded rapidly, "Make sure she drinks enough, and I will bring you an herbal tea to alleviate the nausea". Naruto nodded and the man left them.

Sakura growled, "I hate them for treating me like an object... I hate that this boat is always moving..." _I don't understand, I wasn't sea-sick when I was kid._

Naruto chuckled lightly and brought her a glass of water. "If they knew you like I do, they would never do that" he stated, and she looked angry.

"Are you trying to insinuate that I'm violent?" she groused.

He laughed "You are violent, for sure... but above that, you are amazing!" She was shocked. _How could he say something like that without blinking an eye? Damn unpredictable Naruto!_

After she drank her tea, she dozed off and Naruto stayed a long moment with her, just studying his role. He glanced dreamily at the sleeping form of his teammate. He would love so much to be more than just a 'fake husband' to her, but it seems that he was cursed to never be truly happy. First he met only the idea of his parents, hardly more than a ghost of them; now he is forced to pretend to be the lover of the woman he loves. He sighed... there was no point in dwelling over it. She was his friend, and that was good enough for someone like him.

Naruto stood up and went for a walk on the deck. He leaned on a railing, his eyes lost on the infinite horizon. His mind was lulled by the movement of the ship, and he let himself slip into a state of musing. In his inner mind, the demon fox grouched, " _ **Kit! don't blame me for your lack of luck with females!"**_ Naruto closed his eyes and appeared in the inner cave in front of the fox's prison. The door to the cage had been wide open since the war, but the demon lazily slept most of the time. Kurama opened his red eyes at the arrival, amused at the pouting expression of his container and resting his muzzle in a large paw.

" _You've got to admit, that you aren't exactly helping very much! Who in their right mind would date a jinchuriki?"_ the blond accused, pointing an angry finger at the giant in front of him.

Kurama snorted, " _ **Your father"**_ he replied instantly. The remark had the effect of a slap in the face to the blond, his jaw dropping comically at the remembrance.

The jinchuriki crossed his arms in defiance, recovering from the shock. " _Talk about him! The man have chose his own son to be your host! He must have had a thing for you!" Naruto_ mumbled begrudgingly.

The booming laugh of the demon fox resonated through the cavern, " _ **He gave you my power!"**_

Naruto sat down like a kid, sulking. " _What's the point of having power, if I can't have love?"_ He sighed desperately, " _Why do I even talk about that with you? You don't know anything about the desire to love, to hold someone in your arms..."_

The fox grinned mischievously " _ **You're the fake husband of this female, aren't you? What's stopping you from acting like her husband?"**_ Naruto blushed bright red, and a few drops of blood dripped from his nose as he thought about how most husbands and wives behaved (especially behind closed doors). He gulped. He lifted his eyes and met the amused ones of Kuruma, " _ **Face the outside world and man up, already!"**_ Pouting, the blond man vanished from the cavern and opened his eyes to the sea in front of him.

When Naruto reentered the room he was pleased to see Sakura's sleeping form. A basin of vomit lay beside the bed. He could tell that she needed support right now, and that's what friends were for. He didn't like to see this version of Sakura; she was such a strong woman that seeing her so broken seemed wrong. He lovingly caressed the cherished forehead, and her eyelids fluttered open. "Nar-Natsu?" she mumbled, confusion covering her near slip of the tongue.

He smiled at her tenderly. _Even when she's sick, she would keep up the mission facade._ "I brought you food" he informed her, and she nodded and tried to lift herself up. His arm came behind her back to support her. Her head was fuzzy, and her stomach queasy. Just the sight of food made her want to puke. She pushed Naruto's arm away, only to fall back on the mattress.

"I don't want to eat" she muttered feebly. His eyes looked pained while he witnessed her distress. Generally, it was the other way around. He was usually the one who got himself hurt, and she would be the one who would bring him back to health.

"You should drink a little" he suggested, passing his arms under her to lift her up a bit to help her drink from the glass he had passed to her. After few gulps, she turned her face away and he let her rest again.

He regularly came back to check up on her and bring her more water or food. That night he slept on the chair, leaving her to relax in the bed without him disturbing her. The entirety of their voyage was spent with Sakura ill, and Naruto tenderly nursing her to health.

XXXXX

After a week at sea they finally reached their destination where their host had sent a vehicle to pick them up. Natsu Kentoro was the heir of a wealthy family, and was supposed to visit the place to make an important investment in GreenRock Land. When they arrived at the mansion, Naruto helped Sakura out of the car. Their host exuberantly welcomed them inside. Sakura, like a good, devoted spouse, followed her fake husband inside silently. Her steps were light and graceful, like a flower petal floating to the ground. The older man gave an appreciative glance at the pinkette which angered Naruto, who then put his hand possessively around Sakura's shoulders to keep her by his side.

Naruto did not even need to think to impersonate Natsu at times, it was as natural as breathing. Natsu had been madly in love with his wife, and so Naruto had just to act upon his feelings for Sakura to convincingly portray a married man. His movements, actions, and even his eyes spoke of love. His training with Tsunade had helped him to act appropriately. The only critical part of his role was that the manner of speaking was so foreign to him, he had to constantly control his speech. The notebook he received with all of the information necessary had been vital to his role, and it was important that this book not be discovered by anyone other than himself or Sakura. The prospect of its discovery didn't concern Naruto, he was confident in his and Sakura's abilities. After all, he had grown up with an infamous demon fox in his inner mind, and he had met the legendary Sage of Six Paths. Title, glory, power, nor money meant anything to him, and he was as impassible as someone from the highest status.

Sakura silently appreciated Naruto's interaction with the Lord. He was impressive. With her busy schedule at the hospital, she had not been with him on his diplomatic mission in preparation to become the Hokage, but she was convinced of his hard training by his current actions. She smiled affectionately, remembering the little blond that never backed down in the face of hardship, and who used to declare that he would become the Hokage no matter what. Looking at him now, it wasn't a dream anymore... soon he would become the best Hokage of all time.

Feeling her eyes on him, he turned his face and blue eyes met green. A tender smile grazed his face, and he delicately lifted her fingers to his lips to kiss them, letting his lips linger more than necessary to savor the contact of her skin on his. _Maybe I should follow Kuruma's advice a little..._ His eyes looked at her with so much desire that her skin felt electric, a shudder traveled from her fingers to her spine. She knew he was acting, but it did not stop her heart from beating erratically at his action. She wanted to punch him, but Hana was certainly not the type to punch. So she inwardly thanked the heavy makeup she wore for hiding her intense blush from his gaze.

A servant came into their room, serving the dinner and their host aimed a lubricious look at the young woman as she leaned forward to place a plate on the table. The host's wife looked displeased at the open display of her husband's interest, and she looked even more angry seeing that their male guest seemed to not even notice the ample curves of the servant girl. This Natsu Kentoro had eyes for only his wife. A second servant appeared with the tea as soon as the first left the room. Again, her husband drooled over the image of the girl, a fresh flower of only 17 years old. When the blond man just nodded amiably as the servant poured his tea, Kaede Hentama clenched the material of her expensive kimono in her frustration. She may be her husband's main wife, but the man was no stranger to fornicating with several concubines or any woman around the house, except for his daughters. She felt an intense jealousy that this Hana had such a devote husband, and yet her's was so undeserving of her. She cursed her father mentally for wedding her to an insatiable pervert.

After the dinner, a servant accompanied them to their room, and as soon as they were alone Naruto discretely activated his sage mode to feel the chakra surrounding the house. Sakura was freeing her hair from her hair bun when a strange occurrence attracted his attention and the orange marks around his eyes faded immediately. He pretended to be searching for an item in his luggage, when in reality he observed the wall to confirm his suspicion. As soon as he spotted the peephole, he lifted himself up nonchalantly and walked to his fake wife. His arms encircled her tenderly from behind and he bent his head, mimicking kissing her neck. She wanted to scold him for his improper actions, when he silenced her with a hush. His lips ghosted her jaw, "We are being watched," he breathed, "there's a peephole on the wall behind me... and someone was already watching through it... we will have to change the plan." he continued in the same hushed tone, punctuating his sentence with few brushes of his lips on her skin: not quite kisses, but not unnoticeable.

She shivered at the sensation. It was strange to be this close to him. They have always been together, however she wasn't used to this physical proximity. She'd have to play her part too; she couldn't be awkward when they were under surveillance."What do you suggest, if we can't go out to investigate the place..?" she replied in hushed tones, her mouth tantalizingly close to his ears. His masculine scent invaded her senses, awakening something in her core, something really deranging. He pretended to kiss again her skin, bringing an infuriating sensation of relief and frustration to her. The safety of the implicit boundaries between them, and this new desire to take this forbidden step loomed over them.

"We can't leave, but..." he began, with some mischief in his voice. His hands moved, and she recognized his hand sign. "Kage Bunshin" he murmured against her skin to muffle his voice. Naruto's clone appeared outside on the small balcony connected to their room. He gave a nod at his creator and jumped into the garden discretely.

To anyone observing them, they looked like a couple in love and making out, and with the position of their bodies his hands signs were invisible to prying eyes. As soon as the clone vanished, Sakura leaned more against his chest, "Can you tell me if there's a peephole in the bathroom?" she asked. He closed his eyes again, activating sage mode, and scanned the entire space of their lodgings.

"There is nothing in the bathroom". At the same instant, she disengaged herself from her fake husband. Sakura smiled seductively at him, and blew him a kiss in a suggestive manner. With this observer, she could not dare to sleep fully clothed, that would not seem natural between husband and wife, and would be even more unbelievable with this summer weather. She put on her nightgown and mentally cursed the person that had prepared her luggage for this role. If she ever discovered which idiot chose such garments, she swore that they would be picking out their funeral attire next.

She stepped shyly out of the bathroom, a robe closed tight around her frame. Naruto was already in bed. She rolled her eyes at the embarrassment of the situation. She had known that this time he couldn't sleep on the floor, but she had at least hoped that he would have the decency to dress up a little more. She inhaled deeply and walked determinedly to the bed. _That means nothing! It's like sleeping next to a little brother! A little brother! We each stay on our own side of the bed... separately and alone!_ She abandoned her robe and hid quickly under the covers. She loudly exhaled the breath that she had been holding. She was exhausted from the trip on the damn boat, and nothing, especially not Naruto, would stop her from getting some well deserved rest. She didn't close her eyes for more than three seconds when she opened them wide again as a body snuggled against her. _Does he really wish to die so young?_ She thought, with a killing intent. "What the heck?" she whispered dangerously.

With a near suicidal boldness he slipped a muscular arm around her waist, and adjusted himself more comfortably. _There is nothing wrong with just holding her, is there?_ He thought "Do you really think that husbands and wives sleep so far away from each other?" He murmured back confidently. "It's just for the sake of being credible... my dear wife" he happily argued in hushed tones.

She was mortified. If the room hadn't been so dark, she was sure that their observer would have noticed the red hue of her face. She would never be able to fall asleep like that.

XXX

Don't forget to review, fav and follow.

Support is always needed!


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANKS TO OfficialNyl FOR HER BETA READING WORK ON IT!  
**

 _For the majority of the review, I continue to post without waiting. I hope you will like it anyway. You could always read it again after the beta-reader corrected it. Once a chapter is corrected, it will edit and a mention CORRECTED will be add at the beginning of the chapter. At the end when all my chapter will be corrected. I will write it in the resume of the story._

 _ **I wish that you will like it and that you will share your though with me**_.

 _ **Chap 4: Investigation**_

Strangely, she had never slept as good as that night. She smiled, feeling the rays of light passing through the window, and suddenly remembered in whose arms she had fallen asleep in. She was still carefully nestled in Naruto's arms, her back against his bare torso, and his slow breathing raising his chest and making his skin touch her. There was something highly disturbing in the comfort she was feeling; something in his warmth, in his contact, in the softness of his embrace. She was now completely awake and aware of everything about him. Even worse, she realized that her body appreciated this closeness with him... with Naruto of all people!

More abruptly than Hana would have done, she leaped from the bed and into the bathroom. Her brisk movement pulled him out of his slumber. Naruto cracked open an eye to see Sakura's spot in the bed empty. He smiled to himself; even if he didn't wake up with her, it had been still wonderful to fall asleep holding her. He chuckled silently with a foxy smile while stretching in bed. _I should try again! This mission is the best mission of all time!_

She felt petrified, pushing her back against the bathroom door for support. _This mission is the worst mission ever!_ She inhaled deeply to calm her emotions. They were on a mission. All of it was just an act. It was not her emotions that she felt, but Hana's emotions. She just got confused because she was too immersed in her role. Sakura strengthened her resolve and straightened up. A good shower should help her go back in her right mind.

When she finally emerged from the shower she found Naruto at the door talking to a servant. As her brain registered the scene in front of her, her eyes shined with killer intent. Sakura walked towards Naruto, ready to slam the damned door shut to avoid having this lousy woman drool over him.

The servant, who was daydreaming a few seconds ago at the sight of the young master clad only in his underwear, trembled at the glare his wife gave her. Suddenly she passed from heaven to hell; from blissfulness to a prey ready to be killed by a dangerous predator. Involuntary she shrieked in fear and the oblivious blond's attention was stolen by the robe wearing woman. A wide smile blossomed on his face making him look even more handsome. _What a shame that he is married!_ the servant thought. Her eyes darted to the floor, sensing his wife's murderous glare growing in intensity.

Naruto happily welcomed his favorite person, "Good morning my love! This person came to help you dress up..." pushing his luck with his role further, he held her tight against him and kissed her on the hair.

Sakura stiffened a bit forgetting suddenly the other woman. _Little pervert! Don't over-do your role!_ The calming effect of the cold shower evaporated from her as her skin heated up under his touch and her heart began beating erratically.

The servant looked envious at the couple; they were the perfect picture of a happy couple, both blushing like two teenagers in love. _It must be nice to be loved like that..._ The only love she knew was the rough way her master forced himself on her. _It must be so nice to have a husband like him..._ Without realizing it, her eyes went back to hungrily look at him, his handsome face with such striking blue eyes, a smile so bright that he could warm the coldest heart on Earth, and a body so attractive that she felt an erotic fixation take over her. She came back to Earth as the door was slammed in her face. She blinked, and was even more surprised when the blond opened the door again, smiling apologetically.

"Please, excuse my wife, she is a little moody in the morning..." he told her, opening the door a little bit more to let her enter. She hesitated to step in as his wife looked truly frightening at that point. "Take good care of Hana!" He released the woman in his arm to go to the bathroom and the servant trembled, aware of the danger of being in this powerful, angry woman's presence.

Sakura huffed in frustration from having to let that lousy servant dress her. She pulled out a kimono from her luggage and drop it on the bed. The woman closed the door, and took care of the precious garment while the young mistress abandoned her robe to purposefully put on some very sexy underwear. The young servant couldn't keep herself from stealing a look at the Lady's form. To her shock, the young mistress' body was not like those of the other women from the house, or even hers. Her whole body was toned! She was not bulky or angled, in fact it was quite the opposite, she was all lithe and graceful. Subconsciously the young servant compared her own body to the Lady's lithe form, succeeding only in disappointing herself with her thin angles and boyish figure. Sakura lifted an eyebrow questioningly "Will you dress me or are you here just to stare at me and my husband?" Sakura was still quite pissed off. She didn't like how this woman had kept drooling over her idiot teammate. It was wrong! The woman rushed submissively around her, scared of being further scolded by the unhappy lady, helping her into the sophisticate clothing.

Naruto closed the door of the bathroom and released a shuddered breath. He looked down at the snake that was beginning to rise in his underwear. He was overly sensitive to her; the smallest contact of her skin on his was awakening some very troubling and dangerous desires. He had to take care of it or he was sure that the problem at hand would continue popping up at the tiniest interaction. He disrobed, stepped into the shower and let the warm water splash over him. His hand automatically found the growing flesh. He closed his eyes and imagined that it was a certain someone else's hand, and not his own. With the still prominent thoughts of a night spent wrapped around her, his task was easily sped up. He bit his lips to suppress his light moan, and let his head fall against the wall as he regained his senses.

With his eyes still closed, he heard a mocking voice in enter his mind. " _ **Could you not man up, Kit?"**_

Naruto appeared in front of the demon fox, " _You don't understand! I can't just force myself on her!"_ He screamed angrily.

Kuruma tilted his head with curiosity " _ **Why not?"**_

Naruto blushed and stuttered " _B-Because... Because we are just faking for the mission."_ The blond seemed to be in pain and conflict with himself, " _As long as I don't really touch her, I can enjoy the illusion of being with her without offending her."_ His gaze slipped to the floor, seemingly ashamed at his admission.

The demon kept staring at the human who was struggling with doubt and asked him the most evident question that came to him, _**"What told you that she would not like you?"**_

Naruto's head shot up, " _She'll never love me. She loves Sasuke."_ His eyes were holding so much hurt and certainty at his statement. To the legendary beast, Naruto once again looked like the small child who was suffering from loneliness. The giant paw came forward, patting his head in a comforting gesture while looking away as the blond composed himself and put on a brave front. " _I'm fine Kurama. It's not news to me... I am already happy with what I have."_ He smiled more sincerely, " _I got to go or she'll realize that I am doing more than just showering... and stop spying on me in my private moments!"_ he jibbed at the fox, back to his cocky self.

The tailed beast didn't insist on his point; his container was a stubborn person, be it for the better or worse. Could he not see that he was able to change the heart of anyone? The kid had so much love to give that he had been able to turn any foe into a friend, tailed beasts included, but he didn't know how to receive love himself.

Naruto came out of the bathroom with just a towel around his waist and another on his head to dry his hair. He didn't have the chance to take more than a single step into the main room before he was scolded and met with a faceful of garments which had been haphazardly thrown at him. "Don't you dare go parading around naked in front of girls!" Sakura screamed indignantly at his behavior. _Does this boy have no modesty?_ _Doesn't he understand that it's wrong to walk around half naked in front of everyone as he clearly doesn't have a child's body anymore?_ _I should have a serious discussion with him soon! His attitude is dangerous for himself, and for the hearts of innocent maiden!_

He freed his face from the bundle of clothes and looked at her confused. "Huh?" He gulped, feeling as though a demonic aura was emanating from her. Her voice seemed to come from Satan itself, waking within him his sense of self-preservation.

"Go be decent !" She growled, pointing to the bathroom to indicate where he should escape to, and he vanished. Talking back in this type of situation was never a safe move. Sakura glanced behind her shoulder at the nose bleeding servant, and the woman yelped in fear. "Leave us alone!" she ordered coldly. The woman bowed deeply and flew away in a blink of an eye. Sakura hid her face in her hand. He was the only one to always break her composed mask, but this time it was even worse. She felt confused, as if she had fallen into a vortex of mixed emotions. Her body treacherously worked her up into a fit, and she didn't know what to think anymore. Everything she had always believed was crumbling down like a sand castle. This mission was dangerous for her sanity...

Naruto poked his head around the bathroom door before fully leaving the small sanctuary. Sakura was fixing her hair into a bun, and seemed to be calmer than she was before. He emerged carefully, his body tensed incase he needed to dodge a random flying object. "Hana..." he tried, hoping that invoking her role keep him safe from her wrath. She turned her head towards him, a perfect lady-like expression. He forget what he even wanted to tell her. She was so gorgeous. She had chosen a delicate pale blue Kimono with pale pink flowers with gold accents floating down the material as her wardrobe of the day. Her face was painted perfectly, making her look like a precious doll; the black around her eyes emphasized her jade eyes, and her pouty red lips looked so inviting... His throat went dry and his heartbeat increased. He stopped everything, his eyes stuck on her captivating appearance.

"I'm glad you're finally decent, my dear husband" Sakura told him in a very Hana-like tone, standing up after fixing her last brooch in her hair.

She walked towards him, her steps light and her movements fluid, as though she were floating. Naruto could have sworn he was dreaming. She looped her arms around his neck, making him lean toward her. For a second he hoped that she might kiss him. But his hopes were dashed as her lips pressed to his ear, and she whispered. "What did your clone found yesterday?" She couldn't continue this game for too long, it was too dangerous. They have to find out the necessary information, and wrap up the mission fast.

He sighed inwardly, knowing that he shouldn't have dared hope she would reciprocate his feelings. He composed himself and murmured out his answer, "There's nothing in the house... I searched his office and nothing compromising was there... but in sage mode, I found a place in the village where powerful chakras were gathering last night. I couldn't investigate 'cause I had to dispel my clone, someone almost found it". She threaded her fingers through his hair lightly, and he instinctively pulled her closer into his chest. He wished so much that it was not just an act. His body enjoyed the contact, while his heart was bleeding silently.

"We will need to investigate that. If nothing is here, we'll have to go for a small sight-seeing venture in the village today." Sakura informed him before separating herself and latched her arm gently in his. She blamed the light headedness she experienced on her obi being tied too tightly, but deep down she knew that the obi wasn't entirely to blame.

XXXXXXX

After the breakfast they played the perfect couple, taking a small walk together in the garden. Naruto held Sakura in the crook of his arm, and Sakura grasped him in return. She was the epitome of refinement and submission, like the perfect trophy wife. She kept her senses alert, despite her relaxed appearance, and continually kept tabs on everything in the space around them. Their host had left them to meet with some visitor for a private meeting, giving the couple some private time. The couple spotted their host and his visitors in the more isolated part of the mansion where the Lord's office was.

Without exchanging a word, they sat close together on a bench near a pond. Sakura caressed Naruto's cheek, turning his head toward her. He looked around to check if they were being observed, and when he noted that the garden was free of onlookers, he gave an imperceptible nod to his companion. Her eyes shined determinedly, and she lifted her fan to hide a supposed kiss from view.

Her mouth approached him, and his hand came up to tenderly caress the gracious nape of her neck to further the act, his eyes returning her intense stare. The situation should never have escaped her control, but his touch sent a jolt of electricity through her skin. Involuntarily, she shivered and her gaze lost focus, leaving her drowning in his lagoon blue eyes. Time suspended itself, stretching indefinitely onwards. There was peace in his eyes, and she was pulled towards him as though by a magnetic attraction. She was less than an inch from his lips when she realized what she was doing. Subtly, she pivoted to bite her thumb, and let her hand leave his face to touch the bench to make a slug summoning. A tiny slug popped up, and Sakura rapidly backed away, simulating a shy attitude with her fan still covering her face to ask her slug to spy for them in the lord's office.

Naruto's hand fell to his side after Sakura retreated, and he closed his eyes to conceal his dismay at not receiving a kiss. Shaken to the core, he felt frustrated. It was so hard for a man that carried his heart on his sleeve to hide his emotions, but he still breathed deeply to maintain a composed mask while she was discretely giving her instructions to her summon.

The summon left, and for few more seconds they stayed silent, neither one daring to look at the other. Awkwardness settled in like a natural companion between the two ninja. Sakura still felt troubled to have truly wanted to kiss him; assuming Sakura was faking her sincerity in their intimate actions, Naruto started to feel depressed. Even if he kept telling his heart that it was just an illusion of love, he still hoped that she would reciprocate his feelings. _It's all a lie, just a bittersweet lie._ He leaned toward her, pretending to kiss her neck. Breathing in her delicately scented skin was tantalizing to him. _Even if it hurts, I can't stop myself from wanting more._ "Let's go out to investigate." He was so close that his lips lightly brushed her skin as he talked. She inwardly thanked the presence of her fan, using the object to hide her increasing blush at the sensations he created within her. She nodded in reply, and accepted the hand he offered to help her up.

They left the mansion hand in hand, Naruto grateful for every minute of intimacy he could get. Just the warmth of her hand in his was making his heart joyfully beat in his chest. Happiness was as simple as that for him, just touching her was enough. They walked through the village like a couple doing some sight-seeing. They stopped at a few shops, successfully convincing the merchants of their roles with Naruto pretending to be the doting husband, looking to buy a trinket for his wife. Sakura would look at a brooch or a kimono, and Naruto would ask the man to search for another item that he believed she might like. As soon as the vendor was busy, they would drop a slug or frog to spy for them. Their game continued for two more days, casually collecting information on the village from their summoned spies.

At night it was easy to fall into a routine. They would enter their room, Naruto would send out a clone, and they would snuggle together in bed. While in each other's arms, they would discuss their observations from the day discretely, and plan their strategy for the following day. If Naruto's clone encountered any problems, he would dispel himself in an effort to keep the ninja's identities secret. In the morning the blond would share the knowledge gained from his clone with his pink haired companion. The two believed this was the best plan of action, who would guess that two people who were being thoroughly watched were actually investigating at the same time? The only problem was the increasing proximity they shared, and the growing feeling that this proximity induced.

Please review, fav and follow


	5. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANKS TO SAVAGEHUNGER47 FOR BETA READING IT  
**_

 _ **Sorry for those that have already read this chapter when I posted it at first instead of chapter 4. But did you have read as well the previous chapter?**_

 _ **Response for review chap 5**_

 _Troa 95: Thank you so much for your warm review. Yeah I gained a lot of reader but silent reader piss me off. One day I will really finish to post in private to those that took the pain to write me some words. I did not see any message from you after i corrected my mistake on my post of chapter 4. Did you read it?_

 _Seadragon 00: thank you for your review. I am happy that you like the story. Did you see that chapter 4 was corrected before this one?_

 _D-Ranked Writer: I am glad that you like the evolution of their relationship and I always thought Sakura really protective toward Naruto ( In a episode were Naruto his kissed to be sucked out of his chakra, Sakura in the background is goind berserk... it have always make me laught how she can be so inaware of her own emotion toward Naruto)_

 ** _Response review chap 4_**

 _AkatsukiSakuraOddness: I am so glad that you like my writing and my story. It warm up my heart so much! You really made my day! Thank!_

 _Guest: Thank you very much. As i have mentionned in previous post. I have a beta reader. But to not let wait my reader, i publish the first draft raw and the correct one will arrive in few weeks. If you prefer to wait. It will be mentionned at the beginning of each chapter when it is update and corrected. But those that have reviewed before have asked me to release the chapter faster than with the beta._

 ** _Thank you All for your reviews... for those that have not read the chapter ;) enjoy and review!_**

 _ **Chap 5: Disturbing boundaries**_

It was their fourth night together and Sakura woke up the first like usual, her nose invaded with Naruto's male scent. She wondered if she had developed a stronger sense of smell like Kiba or Kakashi-sensei to be able to recognize his scent so distinctively. Until she realized what position she was in.

The day before, she was sure they had fallen asleep in a decent spooning position-as much as a spooning position could be called decent. But now, they were a mess of limbs entangled together, her face in the crook of his neck, and her arms encircling him as much as he was holding her tightly. It was all what 'unbefitting' could be between two best friends.

The worst was when he woke up, too, and her blood froze in her veins at being found in this position with him. His striking blue eyes opened sleepily at the sound of a knock on the door. His lips stretched in a loving smile before kissing her sweetly on her forehead.

"Good morning, love," Naruto mumbled groggily before standing up. Turning to open the door.

Shocked, Sakura touched the place on her forehead where his lips had landed. The ghostly tickling sensation of his soft lips left her aghast, so much so that it was only the sound of a female voice that brought her back out of her daze. Her brain didn't even register what she was doing, her body moved on its own, slamming the door shut on the woman's face.

The violent motion made him stop his yawn and his stunned eyes looked as the pinkette seemed to materialize in front of him. _Nice Sleepwear_ the blond thought a second before receiving a slap on the face.

"Stop parading naked!" Sakura sputtered without thinking.

Innocently, he looked at her inquisitively. "I am not naked..." Naruto tried to justify himself by pointing to his underwear.

Sakura grit her teeth. _Was he stupid?_ "It's the same thing! Don't do it!"

Naruto stared as the pinkette crossed her arms over her breasts, unknowingly making them more visible through her low-cut neckline. He was a healthy young man, and the temptation was too big to not have a quick look at the curves offered to his view. Unfortunately, his teammate was focused on him so intently that she caught immediately his slip of gaze. Her eyes searched for the object of his interest that could distract him from their conversation. Sakura lowered her eyes and another slap hit him followed with the word "pervert".

Naruto rubbed his cheek, pouting, "You're too unfair to me. You put those tempting things on... you can't expect me not to look."

Sakura jumped backward grabbing the cover to wrap it around herself. Her retort came in an accusing tone, "What did she want?"

She didn't like any of those servants, she couldn't after her slug's report. All of those women were fascinated with him, calling him "The prince" or blabbering about his hot body. Sakura crumpled the bedsheets between her fingers at the remembrance of the report. _And he dared to continue to exhibit himself to those voracious women._

"She was informing us that we are invited to breakfast with the whole family," Naruto repeated innocently not understanding the reason for her irritability. _It's too early to pick a fight..._ He stretched his arms above his head while yawning again. Her eyes lost some of their anger at the sight displayed in front of her, and her body filled with something more deranged. Lust. She turned abruptly her back to him.

"So, we have to get ready fast..." Sakura mumbled, covering her heated cheeks with her hands.

XXXXX

In the kitchen, the head servant asked the young woman if their guests would join the breakfast. The servant scratched her chin.

"I think, yes... but. I couldn't talk much with the young master. His wife is too jealous, she slammed the door shut and got angry at him."

The head servant sighed. "Don't mind them! People tend to be very possessive for the one they love... She just doesn't want any competition around him."

XXXXX

Naruto and Sakura arrived in the main room, back in their best behaviors. Their host greeted them and for once his whole family was present, with his concubines and his children. All of them bowed respectfully and the man pulled forward his son.

"This is my heir, Ren," the man said, proudly presenting the child to their guest.

Naruto nodded smiling gently to the young boy who tried to be important, mimicking everything his father did. The man invited them after to take place without mentioning the name of the rest of the family like if they were just objects. Naruto sat at the table and politely greeted each member of the family equally.

"You have lovely children," Naruto commented afterward.

The man laughed patting his shoulder. "If you want, you can take one of my girls as a concubine."

Naruto blanched, offended. "I am too old for them!"

The man laughed even more. "In few years, they will be of age, they might be able to bring you sons!"

Sakura pierced him with her eyes. _What was this man trying to imply? That she wasn't fertile? Or that she wasn't interesting for her husband?_ She clenched her fists in fury, but her ire dissipated when Naruto draped a supportive arm around her shoulders.

"I need no woman other than my wife," Naruto stated firmly.

After breakfast, like usual, the fake couple went for a walk in the village under the pretense of sightseeing to make future investments. They'd already explored a big part of the village without success, and there was no trace of anything suspicious. Some villagers were complaining about the bad trade routes of their country. The place where Naruto had felt the gathering chakra was now empty, telling him that the powerful chakra holders had been there for a punctual meeting. They strolled to the south part of the village to try to investigate the area.

The couple spotted the presence of a mercenary ninja following them and Sakura immediately pulled her fake husband in a jewelry shop and discreetly located all the escape routes, just in case they needed it. Meanwhile, Naruto wandered around and got attracted to a special piece of jewelry. The merchant looked over the tall lord's shoulder and praised him for his good taste, agreeing with the blond that the necklace would match with his wife's eyes.

Sakura sucked in the scene. There was something in Naruto's smile, something entrancing in his gaze. Sakura couldn't stop the foreign emotion to bubble at Naruto's act. She would never have guessed that he was such an incredible actor. His way of playing Natsu, was just perfect, he was so convincing. The way the tall blond stepped behind her to attach the necklace with delicate fingertips. The way he hugged her so tenderly, telling her in a sensual voice that no stone as precious as the ones he placed around her neck could rival her vibrant eyes. She wanted to persuade herself that all of her feelings were just in response of her pretending to be Hana. She wanted to hide behind this certainty, but she was not sure where the act ended, and where her real feelings began.

Generally, they would just look to two or three others items and finally leave the place with no purchase. But, strangely, Natsu refused her to take off the jewel and paid the man in hastiness before pulling her happily again in the street without any plan. Sakura let herself get lead by her joyfully fake husband. She blushed, lifting her hand to the necklace, troubled more than she should have by his act. Natsu had a contagious love and she couldn't stop herself from returning his grin with a smile.

The sun was at its highest, and the ninja kept following them for a while. He wasn't a high skilled shinobi at how they were easily able to detect him all the time. Even if the mercenary came to attack them, she was sure she'd be able to get rid of him without messing up her hair.

Naruto and Sakura took rest on a bench under a tree hidden away in a remote part of a park far away from everyone, like two lovers wanting some privacy. Naruto hid his face in her neck, pretending to kiss her skin to conceal his sage mode, his hand caressing her nape. The blond simply opted for this hiding spot after Sakura mentioned that the orange around his eyes was too noticeable. Since then, he enjoyed her sweet fragrance while using his power in total discretion. Naruto studied the chakra around them, searching as far as he could.

"Nothing... But, I'll still leave a clone to search deep into the woods," Naruto murmured before straightening up. Sakura was waving her fan to bring some air on her overheated face, and he smiled at the sight. If it wasn't so hot outside, he could have thought that he had made her blush.

The cerulean blue eyes darted to the jade-stone on her necklace. "It really suits you well," he commented.

She pouted and whispered behind her fan, "Yeah. It's a shame that I'll have to give it back at the end of the mission." Her fingers touched the stone, caressing it with regret.

His smile widened.

"Actually, you can keep it..." Naruto murmured cryptically. Her questioning eyes met his smiling ones. "It's my gift!"

Sakura gasped understanding the meaning of it. This was not a Natsu gift. "W-Why?" she stuttered, stunned.

Naruto scratched shyly his cheek lowering his gaze in embarrassment "It looks beautiful on you..."

Her heart pounded oddly in her chest. The necklace was already troubling when it was a gift from Natsu to Hana, but now that it was from Naruto to her, she didn't know what to think of it.

"I..." She began to refuse when he abruptly lifted his eyes. His eyes took her voice away and she fell in a summer sky where no cloud and no doubts existed, eyes so blue that they seemed like a small piece of heaven. "I... I love it!" she finished, hypnotized by his gaze.

Her best friend joyfully bounced on his feet and extended his hand to help her up.

"Should we continue?" the blond cheerfully suggested.

They continued their walk a little more before a small slug crept out of Sakura's collar. The divine summoning animal informed the kunoichi that some shady men had arrived at the mansion, and disappeared down a secret passageway through the floor in the lord's son's room. From the divided part of Katsuyu following them, the men were planning something big in two nights. Sakura smirked victoriously. They finally had found some clues. The blond listened attentively at the slug, his brows furrowed in concentration.

When the slug slid back under her garment, Naruto murmured, "Did you bring some of your sleeping gas?"

She nodded and wondered why she didn't think of it sooner.

XXXXX

Back at the mansion that night, they entered in their room. But, instead of doing their usual bedtime ritual, this time Sakura released a time jutsu sleeping bomb, set to explode after they were safely in bed with the antidote. As expected, their guards fell asleep.

Naruto activated his sage mode to sense any potential danger, and both of them slipped out of the room like shadows, invisible to untrained eye. Silently, they entered the lord's son's room and released another sleeping gas bomb. With the directions from the slug, Naruto and Sakura activated the secret door in the floor and discreetly descended the stone steps and found themselves in a dark cave. With a quick hand jutsu, Naruto easily created a floating fire-wind sphere to light their way.

Sakura huffed.

"Stop showing off just because you can wield all the elements," she grunted, jealous.

"Huh? Sakura-chan... I wasn't showing off... I have no glory to wield them. It's just because of the tailed beast's chakra..." Naruto mumbled apologetically.

 _Doesn't he realize that it is even more impressive to wield so much of the tailed beast's power?_ She pouted.

"Don't dig your grave any deeper!" Sakura ignored him, moving forward to begin her search.

Naruto followed her, rubbing his neck, not understanding her mood, like usual.

The cave was the place where everything they needed was in. From top secret maps of Konoha, to a list of all their weapons and supplies. Sakura found some plans for a new weapon. On the designs a note was attached. The kunoichi had interpreted the function of the plans as a chakra hoover, and, if her suspicions were correct, it could completely deplete their victims of chakra without having to make contact with them.

The method had only one weakness, though. And it was that the canon would have to be pointed at the target. Sakura eyes landed on Naruto. He was already collecting enough proof through scroll-copy jutsu to incriminate the lord and justify their actions.

 _His recklessness is his biggest issue. Even with all his chakra, if he gets into the scope of this weapon, he would have nothing left,_ she though. She was the opposite of him, her reserve chakra was hidden, so even if they touched her, she would still be able to continue to fight. She would have to keep an eye on her teammate to be sure he stayed safe.

Naruto voice pulled her out of her musing. "Okay, Sakura-chan! I secured everything. We can leave now!"

She nodded, and he placed some fire bombs with a distance activation jutsu to be sure to destroy everything once they finished the mission.

Then, just as they entered the cave, they exited it the same way, returning unnoticed in their room. Sakura changed into her nightwear while her teammate went directly to bed. When she slipped under the bedsheets. Naruto came to snuggle against her as usual, but she stopped him, saying

bluntly, "Stay on your side! The observer is sleeping, so there is no need to fake it while we sleep!"

Naruto lowered his gaze and just nodded before turning around on the other side of the bed, offering her his back. Sakura smiled, satisfied with her idea. Tonigh,t they would keep a proper distance from one another. She rested her head on her pillow, turning on her side with her back to him, too, and closed her eyes. Few seconds passed before she began to pout. It was strange to not have him against her.

XXXXX

It was just after dawn when Sakura lazily opened her eyes, and quickly realized that they had changed positions during the night. Naruto was lying flat on his back, sprawled across the bed, the blanket had fallen to the floor, leaving them both uncovered. This part was partly acceptable, partly only because she was only clothed in her atrocious nightgown. The real unspeakable part was that she was draped over him, holding him like a plush-toy, arms and legs encircling him, her head resting on his shoulder. Sakura wanted to scream, wanted to beat him to death. _How the hell did I ended up like this?_ After her outburst the night before, she couldn't be discovered in this position.

Her best friend was still in a complete slumber, so she decided to move very carefully to not wake him while in this very compromising position. As long as he was sleeping, her pride was safe, at least. Sakura removed her arms from around him, and began to lift her upper-half out of the way. The blond stirred a bit at the loss of warmth and she held her breath, not daring to even expel the air in her lung, holding as immobile as a statue.

Her eyes were focused on his face, mostly his undisturbed breathing, before drifting upwards to...his mouth. Her heart skipped a beat. _This is bad!_ She shifted her leg slowly, unfortunately, rubbing something that should not have been up in the first place. Realizing what it was, Sakura jumped backwards with a shriek.

Reacting to her scream more than being awake, his ninja reflex made Naruto jump to his feet, in a position ready for battle, his muscles tense. His eyes were sharp, leaving no evidence of their sleepy state.

 _No enemy?_ He looked at Sakura to ask her if she had a nightmare and noted her exaggerate widened eyes. Naruto glanced down to where her focus was and smiled. Embarrassed, he turned around to hide his blatant morning arousal.

"Sorry... I'm a guy... Iruka-sensei told me it was normal, and that all guys have them..." he blabbered, his face, and the tip of his ears, red.

Suddenly, it fell on him. _We're out of character!_ With a panicked expression, he turned to ask Sakura what they should do about the observer. His teammate was hiding her face in her hands, but she sensed his movement and guessed what he wanted to say.

With an agonizing muffled voice, Sakura answered his silent question knowing the duration of the sleeping gases effects, "He is out for one hour more."

She heard him just say, "Ah?" and the discreet sound of his movement when he turned back towards the wall. In the list of awkward moment between them, this one could certainly be the winner.

They stayed silent and immobile for a long moment. Now that Naruto was fully awake, there was no way he could go back to sleep in this condition. The blond cleared his throat, still embarrassed.

"Huh... I'm going for the shower first," he informed her. He half walked, half jumped into the bathroom and hastily closed the door. Once secured on the other side of the door, he sighed and let his body slump on the floor.

At the sound of the door closing, she finally dropped her hands from her face to search for a handkerchief to wipe her bloody nose.


	6. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANK TO SILKEN DANSER FOR HER BETA READING WORK**

 _Troa 95: I am so glad that you like both of my story! I hope you will like the chapter :)_

 _Max slayer 10: talking about tail beast, I love to imagine the friendship between Naruto and the fox. And how Kuruma could trick him. I hope you will like what happen next :) *innocent smile*_

 _sakura haruno 1010: Thank you for all your review. You are right! Kuruma deserve to have the title of wingfox ;) and yeah sakura is such a perv XD. I hope you will enjoy your reading!_

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _Previous chapter: Sakura saw Naruto with_ _morning wood_ _and she shrieked in surprise._

 _They stayed silent and immobile a long moment. Now Naruto was fully awake. There was no way he could go back to sleep in this condition. The blond cleared his throat_ _,_ _still embarrassed. "Huh... I'm going for the shower first". He half walked, half jumped to enter the bathroom and_ _hastily closed_ _the door. Once secure_ _on_ _the other side of the door he sighed and let his body slump_ _to_ _the floor._ _Meanwhile, at the sound of the bathroom door closing_ _,_ _Sakura_ _finally freed her face to search_ _for a_ _handkerchief to wipe her bloody nose._

 _ **Chap 6: Let the demon run wild**_

Naruto went to the shower and groaned inwardly. _Sakura's never gonna_ _come close to me_ _again_ _!_ He hit his skull a few times against the wall until the moment he heard a voice in his head.

" _ **Stop that kit! Your brain is shattered enough!"**_

Naruto appeared in his inner cave and instantly began rolling on the floor in a heartbroken manner, screaming freely since Sakura could not hear him here.

" _AAAAhhhhh!_ _This is_ _the worst! How could I?"_ The blond began to punch his own head screaming, _"_ _Stupid_ _body!"_ at each punch.

Kurama tilted his head. _**"Isn't**_ _ **it a body part**_ _ **lower than your head that**_ _ **was 'stupid,' as you say**_ _ **?"**_

Naruto stopped his nonsense and pouted, looking at the giant who was making fun of his desperate love-life. _"You don't understand._ _She'll_ _hate me now!"_ he muttered sadly.

The demon shrugged, _**"**_ _ **Weren't")**_ _ **you the one who told me she didn't love you? What's the change?"**_

Naruto threw his hands into the air. _"ARRGHHH! Why do I talk to you anyway_ _?_ _!..._ _There's_ _not_ _just_ _love and hate! She didn't love me but at least_ _we were_ _friends, now I'm sure_ _she'll_ _avoid me!_ _Understand?_ _"_

The tailed beast shrugged again. _**"Idiot!"**_

Naruto, absolutely furious, ran to the giant and began to kick his big paw. _"Who are you calling an_ _idiot_ _? Do you want to fight?"_

Kurama pushed him away, making the small human fall back on his butt. _**"Calm down kit!"**_ roared the demonic voice. However, Kurama regretted his harshness when Naruto's shoulders shook slightly and unsheathed tears made his eyes shine.

" _I love her,"_ Naruto murmured, defeated. He sighed. There was no point to that. Kurama was right. The blond lifted himself up and walked slowly toward the giant to hug his big paw. _"Sorry Kurama, you have nothing to do with this and I screamed at you... You're_ _right…_ _I'm a total_ _idiot_ _..."_

The demon stiffened at the gesture. _**"Stop that kit! You freak me out when you do that kind of stuff!"**_

Naruto laughed lightly at the embarrassed demon and patted the fox's fur. _"Thanks for hearing me out! I feel better now that I was able to vent my frustration..."_ and the little human disappeared with one of his fake smiles to hide his broken expression.

XXXX

After his shower, Naruto realized that he forgot to bring his clothes with him into the bathroom in his hurry to leave the room. The young man groaned, imagining the other demon he would have to face for showing up again 'undressed'. She had painfully lectured him the other day about having some modesty. Really, he couldn't understand her sometimes! The critical part was covered and it wasn't like if he had a girl's body, there wasn't much to look at. The blond carefully peeked through the cracked door and spotted Sakura seated in front of the mirror brushing her hair. In the reflection, their eyes met and they both looked elsewhere the next second, blushing slightly.

"Natsu, your clothes are on the chair near the door."

His eyes darted to the pile neatly folded on the chair before returning to the mirror. She still wasn't looking at him, her hand automatically moving the brush, her attitude all composed… so Hana-like.

"Thank you, Hana!" he hesitantly said, trying to impersonate Natsu, and grabbed the pack of clothes before retreating back into the bathroom to get changed.

When Naruto emerged again, his fake wife passed by him to enter the bathroom and whispered reassuringly, "There's no problem... I'm a medic... I know how the human body works..." before patting his arm in a friendly manner.

She couldn't stay mad at him and she didn't want to be awkward in this situation; it might risk the integrity of their mission. Just because this stupid role had developed something in her that shouldn't have existed between them in the first place, didn't mean that she would not take her infiltration mission seriously.

Sakura walked past him while he was still trying to suppress his blush, and closed the door to the bathroom, all the while doing her utmost to appear completely unfazed by him. When she was safe, she internally thanked her ability to not show her emotions with the help of inner-Sakura.

Unfortunately though, the voice in her head wasn't shutting up for a second. _It's bigger than_ _what_ _Ino supposed it_ _would_ _be..._ _He_ _must be wild in bed..._

Shaking her head, she stepped into the shower and turned on the cold water. She couldn't let these types of thoughts pollute her mind.

The situation was a little more awkward than the other day, but by the time they had both finished getting ready, they had fallen back into the routine of their role. However, Naruto was a bit more distant and Sakura nearly imperceptibly stiffer. They couldn't touch each other without feeling too self-conscious, everything from holding hands to any point of connection between their bodies became a big deal all of a sudden. To keep their act together, they continued to play the lovey-dove couple. But instead of brushing his lips against hers every chance he got, the space in between them had been meticulously calculated to avoid all contact.

The blond didn't want to make her uncomfortable around him and Sakura shuddered with anticipation every time he approached her. She was growing more and more frustrated at each one of their whispered conversations, sensing him so close and yet being deprived of the little jolt of excitement of their forbidden touches. Naruto would get close enough that she could feel his warmth, and his breath would tickle her skin. But never once did he make his usual misstep that led to those infuriating brushings of lips that were so respectful and tempting at the same time.

Today in the household, there was more movement out of the ordinary and the couple got busy trying to spy on the supposedly innocent guests that kept visiting the lord. All of them looked like nobles, completely harmless from an outside perspective. But the fake couple knew, based off the information collected with a small frog, that those people were here to bring intriguing scrolls to the lord. After their undercover watching, the two Konoha ninja agreed that finding out the content of those scrolls before the night operation was a top priority.

In a house where, from every corner they could sense a pair of eyes following them around, it wouldn't be easy to slip unnoticed into the lord's office in broad day light. It wasn't like Sakura could put the whole household to sleep without raising some suspicion. First the fake couple had to take care of the one shadowing them. Using her fan to hide her lips' movement, the pinkette whispered her plan to Naruto.

To set their plan into motion they took a walk in the garden and settled down together under tree. As expected, their shadow followed them and hid in the branches above. Naruto stayed nonchalantly seated on the bench, while Sakura stood up gracefully. With the reflection of the pond in front of her, she was able to determine the exact position of their enemy. Once she was sure of her target's location, she spun on her heels abruptly and locked eyes with the mercenary shinobi, making him fall under a genjutsu. Naruto, in the meantime, made a clone appear in the tree to guard their follower if the man managed to cast off the spell. Afterward, the blond casually came to stand at his fake wife's side with a proud smile and invited her to continue their walk.

"So, what will he see?" Naruto asked, more relaxed knowing that they had lost their baby-sitter.

Sakura waved her fan in front of her face and nonchalantly replied, with a good deal of humor, "He will believe for thirty minutes that we didn't move and were just gazing at the pond while holding hands, my dear husband, and then he'll think he had a little nap."

His smile grew bigger and Naruto looked at her with awe, "I swear, you're really too smart! I'm glad that you're not after the Hokage's title or I would lose it to you."

Sakura nudged him with her elbow. "Don't say that! There would be no one as good as you to be Hokage! I believe in you!" She assured him spontaneously. Self-conscious of her declaration, she added jokingly, "...and as for your lack of brain... you still have Shikamaru and me to help you out." He had felt like blushing at the beginning of her praise, but ended up pouting by her last comment.

Once they arrived near the last part of the house where the lord's office was, the fake couple disappeared inside in what would appear to be a blur to the normal eye.

A servant that was bringing some clean sheets to the main house had been dreamily looking at the young master, who was taking a stroll in the garden, when suddenly the woman blinked her eyes and he disappeared. _Was it all a fantasy?_ The servant shook her head, confused. If she told her friends about this, they would certainly think that she was crazy. She shrugged and continued her work. In this ugly world, it was so nice to day-dream about a gallant prince.

They moved cautiously in the corridor. Naruto had switched to his sage mode to sense any intruder on their little uninvited visit. At a certain point, he extended his hand to forbid her from taking another step forward.

"This is a nightingale floor," he informed her. Sakura frowned at the implication. With her actual dress, she couldn't move as easily, so it would be difficult for her to not make any sound. "I'll carry you. I know the steps since my clone did it the other night," her teammate finished.

Without asking for her permission, Naruto lifted her bridal style up into his arms before jumping silently in an odd pattern of steps. Pressed against his chest while her teammate was concentrating on his dance without music, Sakura felt a strange warmth spread in her veins. It was the first time today that he had held her in his arms, and in the back of her head a little voice teased her, daring her to admit that she had missed it. They had been stuck together all day and night long for the past few days and this sudden distance between them had made her lonely. Inner-Sakura reproached her over-reaction this morning, telling her that he would have been his usual Natsu otherwise.

Once they had passed the musical trap, the blond let her down and Sakura experienced a spurt of anger at her emotions and their implications. She wanted to scream at him for having made her like his touch so darn much. He was Naruto. He was _not_ supposed to be able to create these types of emotions and sensations within her.

In contrast, her teammate was the one in perfect control for once, his eyes searching the room with the enhanced acuity of sage mode. Irritated at herself for being flustered, and him for being so calm, the pinkette pushed away her inner-Sakura and concentrated on just her job. They separated to cover as much of the place in the least possible time. Sakura easily opened the locked drawer of the desk with a hairpin, while Naruto took care of the safe-deposit box. His fingers dexterously turned the knob to unlock it, his ear stuck against the metallic door to listen to the nearly soundless click of the security system.

Sakura found a note-pad and used some powder that she had hid in a pouch under her dress to make the letters of the previous writing appear. Naruto couldn't avoid being distracted when he spotted his teammate lifting the material of her kimono to access something attached to her thigh. It wasn't the place in itself that attracted him, but it was the eroticism of the image, her white legs suggestively revealed in between flaps of red silk. Naruto gulped, his mouth suddenly dry and his eyes glued on the sight until the moment her skirt went back to its normal position. He scolded himself mentally for losing so much of his focus and finished the last turn on the lock.

Then the locked door opened with a muffled puff. The sound attracted Sakura's attention and she turned around to study the documents with him as fast as they could before being discovered. If he wasn't obliged to keep up his sage mode to detect an unwanted visitor, Naruto would have dropped it. His sage-heightened sense of smell was invaded with her perfume and his heartbeat was increasing because of it, reminding him painfully of his infatuation with the pinkette.

The scrolls were credit letters giving the lord a generous amount of money. They got what they came for. Sakura pulled out of her neckline a folded piece of paper covered in a grey dust that exposed the previous writing.

"He had threatened that if they didn't pay, he would destroy all of their goods and families" She explained to her teammate and the blond nodded.

They had more than enough to justify their actions. They replaced all of the scrolls in the same position but before they finished it. Naruto sensed a person coming toward their location. They hurriedly closed everything back up so as to leave no clue of their passage and then Naruto grabbed her in a swift move to run and jump as fast as possible to the exit. The way to the garden was blocked as the intruder was arriving from here, so he changed routes to escape through the main house.

Kurama voice rang in his head at the same moment the jinchuriki sensed another person coming their way. _**"Switch with me Naruto!"**_

Trusting his friend, the blond let the fox take control of his body. From inside he saw the beast embrace Sakura and jump in a closet.

At the next thing Naruto saw, he screamed _"Aarrgghh! Kurama!"_ but got quickly pulled back into his body and found himself kissing Sakura, not on the forehead, nor on the cheek... This bastard made him kiss Sakura on the lips!

 _I'm dead!_

The blond expected to be killed in the next few seconds and didn't move, waiting for his death sentence. Strangely it didn't happened the way he thought, but he was certainly dead and in heaven as the softest lips pressed more against him. Naruto couldn't resist anymore and tentatively moved his lips, tasting her for the first time in his life. He had dreamed of this moment millions of times... but never had he imagined it would happen in a dark closet.

Naruto tightened his embrace as if he was afraid that she might escape, and he became more and more greedy. His heart was pounding ferociously in his chest and his head was spinning. He was sure he wouldn't get out of here alive. His lips searched hers, grazing them, licking them, and Sakura opened her mouth, responding to his kiss. He would die here, but he would die happy. His tongue invaded her mouth and found his partner for a passionate dance, turning, caressing, one around the other in a battle of dominance. He was going crazy and something was quickly growing in his pants.

Her arms draped around his neck, keeping his head down for her to access his mouth, while her fingers raked across his scalp and pulled his hair with a form of savagery. The blond moaned into her mouth and lost all restraint, as his body grew a will of its own. His hands roamed over her back, crumpling the material of her kimono. Naruto was so excited that he wanted to devour her, to taste every bit of her skin. He wanted to pleasure her and get drunk from her sweet voice. He couldn't stop himself anymore.

His lips were caressing while his teeth gently grazed her soft pink lips. He was like a man who found an oasis in a desert. Ecstatic. Naruto would gladly accept if he was damned today until the end of the world for the sin of kissing her. All form of thoughts were lost, leaving him to be just controlled by instinct. Puffs of air escaping incoherently between kisses, it was as if he couldn't get enough of her.

Sakura didn't understand at first what happened. Everything had been so fast that she didn't get the chance to think properly, just following blindly along after her teammate, who was able to sense all potential trouble. They had run, Naruto lifting her up and hopping at an incredible speed over the nightingale floor before running again from left to right. She had known that she was slower, her movement restricted by her kimono, but she had still been surprised when her teammate held her tight and pushed them both in a closet. Actually when they had dived in, she remembered briefly thinking that it was a good idea.

The next thing that happened instantly fried all her brain cells. His lips had crashed onto hers. All of her vital functions simultaneously stopped at this foreign contact. It was nothing like giving mouth-to-mouth to a patient- even if the only patient who ever received this kind of treatment from her was the exact same man. She was not in the security of her medical duty and he was not nearly dead. Quite the opposite, Naruto was very much alive judging from the warmth of his mouth, a sensation that spread from her (his) lips to her heart.

Slowly her body came out of its frozen state and her heart began a loud and powerful pounding. The drumming was resonating in her head, rendering her completely deaf to the world. Her mind, numb with the shock, hypnotically followed her body's instincts, which pulled her closer to him as if naturally seeking the entrancing warmth. Sakura felt his lips move, caressing her with so much sensuality that electricity ran amok over her skin and she was sure that she would have fainted if his arms weren't so tightly holding her against his strong chest.

She felt his tongue playing erotically with her lips, followed by the wet and warm sensation of it licking her bottom lip and sliding in between. She wanted to touch it too, so much that she opened her mouth to extend her own appendage to explore it. As usual, her blond partner didn't waste any time. Naruto was an offensive type. His tongue invaded her in the fieriest experience of her whole life and her whole body went up in flames. At each stroke of his tongue against hers, a blast of heat burned through her veins.

The world was spinning around her. Her heart was going berserk. She wanted more of him. Sakura pushed forward, battling to conquer his mouth. They were so intertwined, there was no separation between them. A puff of air escaped between their mouths, and she encircled his neck with her arms to keep his face accessible to kiss him more. Sakura wanted more and with some wildness grabbed his hair. Naruto moaned in her mouth and she was completely intoxicated by him, each touch of his hands lighting her skin ablaze. Logic, Modesty, Self-preservation had all been erased by the butterflies dancing in her belly.

He must have cast a special jutsu on her to make her lose all control over herself. There was something magical in the way Naruto was kissing her. It was like he was pouring on her a waterfall of love while awaking in her bubbles of magma. Her legs were wobbly and her body slackened, molding against his torso to have as much contact as possible. She couldn't go farther but she still wanted more... more of him... more of his skin... more...

Their deepest raw desires got crushed the next second when the door opened to a surprised servant. The woman gasped and let her whole basket of fresh laundry fall on the floor. Reacting more on instinct than anything else, their eyes darted to the bright light entering their dark hiding spot. Their cheeks, already red from excitement, achieved a new tone of red, 'bloody red', at their embarrassment. They untangled their tongues, their bodies took a respectful distancing step and they smoothed the wrinkles out of their clothes, trying to put some order to their messy appearance.

The couple smiled clumsily at the servant. Sakura couldn't bear the surprised stare of this woman anymore though and hid her face with one hand while grabbing Naruto's hand to pull him away with her. She walked briskly past the woman, escaping to the garden.

The servant's stare followed them until they disappeared behind the tree and she muttered to herself, 'Stupid lovey-dove couple...'. She shook her head in disapprobation before returning to her task at hand.

Sakura plopped down on the bench, one hand not leaving her face, the other still holding Naruto's hand. She had just dragged him naturally without even thinking, in a habitual gesture of having her partner-in-crime with her.

Hesitantly, the blond sat silently near her. He didn't dare release the lovely smaller hand that held tight to his. His cheeks were still aflame and he rubbed his neck, not knowing exactly what to do. He was completely clueless about what would happen next. Could he make her believe that the kiss had been for the sake of not getting caught? That the kiss, or kisses if he were truly honest, were just part of his act as Natsu? He didn't know where to put his eyes, what to do with his hands, nor what to do with himself- there were too many questions!

Sakura dropped her hand from her face and groaned in despair, before realizing that she was still holding him and he was still here with her.

Naruto tensed up, sensing her move, and she shrieked, releasing his hand as if it was burning her.

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled so softly while looking away that she barely heard him.

"Huh?" She watched him, puzzled and a little ashamed when she noticed the red lipstick on his mouth. Without thinking, she turned his head to face her and began to erase the stain with her thumb. Wide blue eyes fixed her, his body frozen, and she stopped mid-movement, her thumb on the pulp of his bottom lip. Her eyes darted from his mouth, to his cerulean blue eyes, and then back to his inviting lips. Rapidly she jerked her arm behind her back and was suddenly fascinated with the green of the grass.

The silence stretched uncomfortably. Cold. Insecure. Bitter. Naruto opened his mouth and closed it twice. He just sighed, his head falling in defeat. He would have preferred for her to punch him like usual instead of this silence. It was so much easier like that. He messed up, she punched him, she healed him and they made peace. That was their traditional pattern and he was fine with it. He was not good at all at talking. He had wanted initially to make her believe that it was an act but he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

"I'm sorry," Naruto repeated shyly and his voice startled her. She didn't want to hear him say that it had all been a part of Natsu's act.

She was confused. _What am I thinking? He is Natsu. I am Hana. And we stay safe!_ It was better this way.

"There's nothing to be sorry for... You were keeping our cover." Sakura mumbled, uncertain, while trying clumsily to put back some loose curls that came from her messy hair-bun to keep her attention away from the real problem at hand. She was attracted to her best friend.

Naruto lifted his head and looked at her curiously. He had just stolen her first kiss, he supposed, or at least it was the type of kiss that should have been reserved for Sasuke, not him. How could she think that he would dare to kiss her like that just for an act? Naruto was somewhat offended, even if it was the same lie that he had wanted to serve her. Sakura had composed herself behind a mask, but the blond immediately recognized her fake smile. _Doesn't she know that_ _I'm_ _able to read every_ _one_ _of her smiles? Does she think that she can trick me after ten years together? I know_ _she's_ _bothered by it. But for our friendship,_ _I'll_ _play along_ _with_ _her. May be_ _she'll_ _punch me after the mission..._ Naruto cleaned what was left of the red on his lips with the back of his hand and composed himself as Natsu.

"I'm glad that you take it like that, Hana." As Naruto uttered the words, the memory of their kisses turned into venom in his heart. All of it was a lie and it was so painful. So terribly painful!


	7. Chapter 8

**_CHAPTER CORRECTED THANK TO SAVAGEHUNGER47 FOR BETA READING IT!_**

 _THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!  
_

 _Troa95:Thank you for your unwavering support! Yeah the closet was fun... I really enjoyed writing Kuruma meddling with Naruto love life._

 _Yojimbra: Sakura is a stubborn girl! She will need a little push to go beyond herself. Thanks for the review. I appreciate. I am glad you're following my work._

 _EziogreatNaruto: NARUSAKU POWER! Thank you very much for your kind words!_

 _Guest007: Thank you very much! I happy that you like it! :)_

 _dbzgtfan2004: Fight for Naruto and Sakura pairing! They're so cute! Thanks to support me to make those stories come true_

 _AquaRules: Don't worry my friend! I am preparing some other nice stuff... *evil smirk* You know with the other story that I love some entertaining chapter ;) *bloody nose*_

 ** _THOSE THAT LIKE MY WRITING AND WANT MORE NARUSAKU, I HAVE ANOTHER FIC CALLED:_**

 ** _"HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH MY BEST FRIEND"_**

 _ **Chap 7: Wrap it up!**_

Something had changed. But, their lie kept growing as they continued with their act for their infiltration. Shinobi were trained to endure, and they were high class shinobi. Nothing could stray them away from their mission. As planned, they continued their observation. However, as their hand connected to walk together, their heart jumped in their ribcage as if trying to escape. Standing next to each other obviously became a challenge, as if they were victim of a mighty pull justu, attracted to each other as if they were under a mysterious magnetic pull.

They had to fight it, break the spell...

Sakura glanced discreetly for the umpteenth time today at her teammate. He was looking in the other direction again. She was distressingly aware that he was trying to avoid her. The worst was that she craved his touch, to feel his big hands on her again, and awaken those exhilarating sensation he had brought out of her. But he had kept them for himself, Natsu had stopped to be all touchy and clingy. She felt lonely.

Their host came toward them. Naruto took a few steps forward to politely greet the man. They exchanged some words and the man laughed patting Naruto on the shoulder. Sakura stayed one step behind, studying the tall frame of her blond teammate, his lean and muscular body, his large shoulders always ready to carry all the pain and hatred thrown in their way to spare them all. His sunny-blond hair...

She smiled. He was like a little sun...his smile mostly. Naruto was always there, offering her the brightest smile ever, that it gave her hope and warmth in the darkest moments of their troubled era. Her eyes again focused—like, the thousandths time today—on to his lips. Since the closet incident, she had to stop herself more than once to not capture in a kiss from those tempting lips. It was unbearable, and she would have given into her desire, if he hadn't slipped away from her like an eel at the last second. So, here she was with this fearsome evidence that Natsu was all an act, and she was in love with her teammate.

The man left and she heard Naruto whisper to her. "Time to go…"

The man had excused himself to go for a diner with some friends. Knowing his secret agenda, the two shinobi needed to take action.

They quickly returned to their room, and Sakura got rid their peeping tom with a sleeping gas before they changed into their ninja outfit. When they were ready to leave, Naruto summoned a frog. With a plop, a fairly big animal landed on the floor.

"Hey, Naruto! You called me?"

The blond shinobi made him a sign to be less loud and the frog nodded. "What's up, buddy?" the frog whispered.

"I need you to take care of those luggage for me," Naruto said, pointing to the five large bags.

The frog frowned. "Did you mistake me for your bellboy?"

Naruto winked with an apologetic smile. "Sorry! We're leaving for a fight, we can't carry them around... So, can you? Please?"

The frog crossed his arms, apparently bothered by the request. "Only because it's you," the amphibian mumbled. A long tongue snapped out of his mouth and encircled the luggage. Opening his mouth exaggeratedly wide, his face distorted as the huge pack passed to his throat.

"Thank you! I will get them back at the pier in the morning," the blond assured him, and the frog vanished in a puff.

They escaped the house from the window and jumped from rooftop to rooftop to find _Nao Hentama_. With Naruto in sage mode, it had been easy to follow the man. The location was out of the village and in a very remote part of the countryside. The lord, and what looked like a small army of men, were assembled in, and around, a barn. The security was tight, but only about half of the group of men seemed to be shinobi. Sakura scrutinized the different cargo attached at an old train. Judging from the position of the rail and the rusty state of the machine, she could guess that this old train was destined the pier. She was sure now that they had planned to embark tonight for a trip to the Fire country.

From their hiding spot, they saw the last group of ninja arriving, carrying in their right arms what looked like the new weapon, the Chakra Hoover. She nudged her teammate. "Don't let those guys target you! The stuff on their right arm can suck all your chakra away in a blink of an eye, and they will be using it against us."

He nodded absentmindedly, not really worried by them. None of them looked like dangerous opponent, few jonin level, but mostly chunin level. A piece of cake! She got angry at him and punched him oi the head, forcing him to take her warning more seriously, fearing her wrath.

On the podium, the lord made a short speech to inform his troupe of his plan. The men cheered, ready to beguile the prosperous Fire Damyo. A blond man appeared menacingly behind the lord with a kunai on his throat.

"What were you saying about the Fire Damyo?" a threatening male voice said.

The lord visibly trembled when the cold blade grazed his skin. He turned his head to look at his assailant, and looked into his assailant's glacial-blue stare. "You?!" he exclaimed with surprise.

"You're under arrest, and you will respond of your crimes in front of the Damyo himself," Naruto informed him with a serious expression.

The man smirked. "You want me alive? You really think you can overpower me alone, in front of two thousand of my men?" The man laughed maniacally. "You're dead!" he spat angrily.

Naruto did not flinch nor show any sign of fear. The blond's cocky confidence was enough to drive the lord mad.

"Attack him!" the lord screamed.

The soldiers came running forward, ready to butcher him in pieces. But, they didn't get the chance to approach the podium when a frightening earthquake occurred. The earth split, scattering blocks of stone, shooting them in the air around them. The ninja-type escaped, jumping from rock-to-rock while the normal soldiers got buried under the crumbling land. Naruto easily avoided a jutsu thrown by a jonin level ninja. With his sage mode, he could anticipate all their movement.

"Who told you that I came alone?" Naruto said with his amiable smiling face, like the lord he had pretended to be, and glanced to the other side of the assembly.

A single woman was standing there, her green eyes burning with determination and her chakra activated fists shining with a dreadful glow of power.

"Isn't she beautiful when she's mad?" Naruto proudly murmured at his prisoner ear. The blond planted his kunai at his feet and sent the lord to the floor with a violent punch in the stomach. He looked down at the knocked-out man and spat at him, "that is for looking at her with your dirty eyes!" Naruto had dreamed of doing that since the first day they'd arrived at the house. The lord had shamelessly kept looking at her with lubricious eyes, pissing him off to no end.

A second later, Naruto jumped in the battle to join his favorite teammate. Sakura didn't really need him, and he could have sat peacefully enjoying the show of her monstrous power. He laughed childishly, sending a chunin level ninja flying with a kick. It was fun to have some exercise and their guest was out for a moment.

Sakura barked at him once she spotted his blond hair, "What the heck are you doing here?!" while punching ten men at the same time, and jumping away to avoid being the target of the units Chakra Hoover.

Naruto got rid of another group of opponents with his Rasengan. "Don't be mad! I let one of my clones to guard our prisoner."

He blasted some of the men from the special unit before they got the chance to point their weapon at him. The men scattered like afraid mice. They were too fast for the special unit to even have a chance to absorb their chakra, with their supposed innovative machine.

Even if the men of lord's army came alone or in group, none of their attacks could touch them. The difference between their power was overwhelming. Sakura was fighting with a band of jonin level shinobi when Naruto sensed it. Instantly, his body moved on its own to protect her, covering her like a shield while jumping to the side to avoid the shot. They landed on the floor, and she quickly realized that they'd been tricked. It wasn't just one person, with a canon, but a whole team. They had steered them to this spot to plot a trap. Sakura tried to see how many were out there, but the men were too far away to be noticeable. But they were surrounded, and the enemy had all their weapons pointed at them from every angle.

Sakura tangled her limbs with Naruto—while pulling as much as her chakra into her hidden chakra reserve as possible—and rolled the blond under her, shielding Naruto with her body. He looked surprise at her actions and, at the same time, sensed the weapons aimed at them. Everyone fired at the same time. A blur of yellow and they vanished letting the stunned enemy team search for them. The weapon was supposed to suck their chakra not to make them disappear.

They rematerialized on the podium, Naruto holding his kunai with his teleporting seal that he had placed next to the prisoner, just in case he needed get back to him fast.

Sakura blinked her eyes, she hadn't expected to find herself there and safe. She was dumbfounded.

"Since when can you do that?" she asked, aghast.

Naruto helped her up. "Quite a while... It's one of my father's techniques..."

She dusted her pants and looked at him frowning. "How come I never knew of it?"

He laughed, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. "I didn't get the chance to use it..." Naruto innocently stated.

Sakura sighed. _Unpredictable Naruto!_ _Why did I get worried for him?_

Naruto punched his hand. "Yoshi! What do you say we wrap this up?" he enthusiastically suggested.

Sakura nodded and they jumped back in the battle.

In his mind, the Naruto stood with a frown. _"Hey, bastard Kurama! Want to move?"_

The tailed beast lazily opened an eye. _**"Are you finished sulking, kit?"**_

Naruto pointed an angry finger toward the fox and screamed, _"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven you for tricking me today!"_ before turned his back on the beast. _"I just try to be kind because there isn't enough action to let you run around,"_ he muttered with a pout.

Kurama stood and laughed at the small human. _**"Hahaha! Why are you mad at me? Don't lie! You liked kissing your female!"**_

Naruto blushed and irritably retorted, _"Stop teasing me! You want to go out? Or should I finish without you?"_

Naruto shined a blinding golden glow as he transformed into his tailed-beast mode, in the middle of the battlefield. A giant beast formed out of chakra roared around him. His tails swiped across the field, sending the corpses of their enemy flying, and its huge paw crushing the bones of others that were directly in its path. Sakura stood still at the impressive display of power. Chakra hands surged from the beast's large body, destroying all the Chakra Hoover users in one go.

She moved out of the way and sat patiently on a rock while Naruto let his giant friend play around. Then quickly, too quickly... the fight was over and the chakra dissipated, the demon returning to his junjuriki. Sometime she wondered why she even bothered to dirty herself with dust when her idiot could do the job himself. _Well, it's always fun to work together..._

Her idiot trotted toward her with his happy-go-lucky smile. "Should we go home?" he suggested and she found herself smiling back at him. It was good to be back on their normal relationship. Maybe without his Natsu, she would forget their little incident and realize that 'her love' was just some kind of physical frustration.

His throat tightened seeing her gently smile. She was so beautiful, with this smile, her hair free dancing in the breeze and she still had some dust on her adorable nose—proof of the battle. She was a flower who could bloom even in battlefield. Instinctively, Naruto lifted his hand and cleaned the stain on her nose. But, he got self-conscious and turned around, beginning to walk away nonchalantly with his hands behind his head, his face hot.

Sakura followed, but stayed a few step behind him. Her heart leaping in her chest, ready to jump out of her mouth because of his touch. She stopped in her tracks. He troubled her more than she had imagined. They forgot the main part of their mission.

"Naruto! Don't you think you forget something? …or should I say someone?" She pointed her finger toward his bored clone seated near their unconscious prisoner. Her teammate smiled, embarrassed, and called for his clone to take their 'package'.

At the pier, they booked a room and cleaned themselves up— changing into their respectable fake identities. Their prisoner securely hidden in one of the big luggage. The sky was beginning to brighten, and lose its darkness to a lovely pink color when Naruto went out. He smiled, walking near the boat that was leaving in one hour to the Fire country.

He came back in the room and found his teammate all lady-like. Sakura proudly passed her hands on the silky material to take off imaginary wrinkle and declared, "Am I more decent like that?"

He shook his head, smiling, and she wanted to punch him.

"What are you implying? Idiot!" she growled menacingly.

He realized that she might have misunderstood him, "Wha-what I want to say, Sakura-chan, is that you're beautiful with whatever you put on..." he stuttered before running away, so used to being punched that thought he might get punched anyway.

She stood there alone in the room, dumbfounded and. Her anger forgotten as her cheeks warmed up again. _This was cheating! How could she calm down if he praised her like that?_

XXXX

When it was the time to depart, they boarded the boat. Sakura would have loved to prepare a mixture for her sea-sickness, but, because of the time, there were no open shops to find the ingredient. So, she accepted her unfortunate fate to be sick for the whole trip, again. She asked to be directly led to their cabin. There was no point in staying out until the moment she felt queasy.

The boat left the dock and the slow rocking motion began. Naruto excused himself from the captain and went to check on her. She was already in her nightwear, lying down in the only bed in the room. He sat near her and offered a glass of water, she drank few sips and her head fell back on the pillow. He abandoned the bed to take a small nap in a chair. Because of the battle, they hadn't gotten the chance to sleep last night.

Her weak voice startled him, "Are you leaving?"

Naruto came back next to her thinking she might need something else. "No." He sat back down on the bed. "I was just going to have a nap on the chair... do you need something?" he asked softly.

He wanted to touch her, to caress her face, to tuck a mischievous pink lock that lay out on her cheek behind her ear... to kiss those forbidden lips again. She shook her head and her lips stretched in a thin line, unsure of the reaction she'd received with her next choice of words.

"We can share the bed," Sakura hesitantly offered. His mouth opened in surprise. "I mean, you will be more comfortable than on the chair, and we've already shared a bed for a whole week."

He sat there like a statue, part of his brain overjoyed, while the other part told him that doing so was a bad idea for his heart.

Sakura regretted her words. She already felt very self-conscious that he might realize she was attracted to him, especially when she wasn't ready to accept it herself. But, before she could retract her offer, he abandoned his kimono and jumped on the other side of the bed.

Naruto and prudence were two concepts which couldn't really be applied together. He could be damned tomorrow, but he would deal with it later. The bed was way much smaller than the one they shared at their host's house, so even if he stayed on his side, they were already pretty close. He didn't need much to be happy, so, with a smug smile, he let himself drift to sleep.

XXXX

Naruto opened his eyes in confusion. How long had he been asleep? He had no idea. But, the rocking of the boat must have made Sakura roll toward him, as they were now snuggled in each other arms. He should have been in heaven, and he could have continued to be in heaven if he hadn't sensed something really bothersome had dangerously grown because of the close proximity of the pinkette.

Naruto wanted to hit himself. How could his body disturb such a blissful moment? He had to take some safety precautions, and distance himself by pushing her gently away, breaking her immediate contact with his very erogenous groin. As he moved her off his chest, her arm tightened around his side, pulling herself unconsciously back toward Naruto's comforting warmth.

Sakura was now even closer than before, her face so close that if he bent his neck he easily had access to her lips. _Her lips_. Just the idea of it brought jolt of excitement in his body. He felt her slow breathing caress his neck in puffs of warm air. It was too tempting. Pushing her didn't work, so he decided to roll with her to let her lie flat on the mattress. After, he would just have to untangle himself and then he'd be free.

Naruto turned his whole body with her in his arms. She was so soft... Her head rested on her pillow and she exhaled. His heated eyes focused to her parted lips, and it was then that he became aware of his position. His body hovering above hers. His arms embracing her. He could... He could...

He could not stay near her or he might rape her in the next seconds. He jumped out of the bed and went directly to the bathroom, releasing the building pressure on his lower half.

Waking up suddenly, disoriented, Sakura scrambled to lifted herself up to puke in the basin near her bed. Falling back on the mattress, it dawned on her that the place near her was empty. She intuitively searched for her partner and saw Naruto's blond head bobbing in his sleep, while seating on the chair and she pouted. They were back to their normal self. He was now Naruto. He didn't have to snuggle with her for the sake of their cover. He even preferred to stay in a chair instead of lying next to her.

It'd been a long time since the last time he had asked her for a date. Now that she thought about it, he had flatly refused her love confession all those years ago. Sai was wrong. Why on earth did she had listen to a boy, who didn't have a clue about what emotion was, and found his definition _of_ emotion in books? Naruto might have never loved her in the first place. It was certainly just a childish rivalry with Sasuke. She felt like crying, and grabbed the pillow next to her to hide her face. It smelled like him. She breathed in, taking in as much of his scent as possible and hugged the pillow.

XXXX

The rest of the cruise had been strange. Her heart rocked as much as the boat. Sometimes, she got her hopes up when Naruto came near her, and took care of her. Other times, she was depressed at the wall that seemed to erected between them.

Until finally, Sakura gladly, welcomed their arrival to land. Her body was wobbly, and she was dead tired from the constant sea-sickness. She didn't remember if any of the food she'd eaten had managed to stay in her stomach for more than five minutes in the last seven days. She was not walking properly, but she still managed to make it to the guest-house. There, they changed and gave the luggage back to its owner. The man looked curiously at the leaving blond carried an unconscious man, tied up like a roasted beef, on his shoulder, and the green-faced kunoichi wobbling near him.

Naruto frowned at Sakura completion, he couldn't let her run like that. He made his signature hand-sign and gave his clone their prisoner.

"Sakura-chan, come on. I'll give you a piggyback ride!"

Naruto showed her his back to climb on it. On any other moment of her life, without doubt, she would have refused. But now, with the world spinning around and the desire to snuggle against him, she accepted without putting up a fight. Her arms draped around his neck and she enjoyed the seeping warmth radiating from his back. She felt so safe and relax.

"Thank you, Naruto," she murmured shyly, tightening her grip slightly to press herself more against him.

He smiled one of his genuine smiles, and turned his face toward her. "You're welcome, Sak—". His sanity took a hit when he found he was nose-to-nose with her. He gulped with difficulty, trying to restrain himself to not capture her lips with his own. He turned his head back around.

"Sakura-chan," he said, finishing his sentence before running at a speed that would have made Guy-sensei jealous.

 **REVIEWS! IT'S THE ONLY WAY FOR ME TO KNOW WHAT YOU LIKE OR DISLIKE...**

 **AND MAY BE MOTIVATE ME TO WORK MORE.**


	8. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANKS TO ZERO 10 FOR BETA READING IT  
**_

 _AquaRules: As you know, I like to complicate things a little before solving the problem... I hope you will enjoy the new event ;) Thank you!_

 _eight hero: Thank you! Happy that you like it!_

 _Danny Ketchum: You should not trust me... except if you want more trouble haha! I hope you will like thir return in Konoha ;)_

 _Yojimbra:Yojimbra... As life can't be that simple, I have to bring more drama in their life... I hope you will like it._

 _Guest 007: Sorry fight is not my forte and Naruto is so stupidly strong since the end of the war that I can't really imagine anyone except Sasuke that could stand in front of him in a battle. (the boy sealed a god-like ennemy)_

 _michaeltop10: thank you!_

 _Troa95: Yeah more drama! I am not sure that you will still like me after that *evil smirk* Thank you for your support!_

 _max slayer 10: thank you! I just got to mess up things first ;)_

 _ErziogreatNaruto: thank you! you will see ;)_

 _pinksakura271: you can give me as much as you like long review! I adore them! I am feeding my soul with them! I reread them one thousand time everytime I am struggling between my desire to give up or continue. I have already responded in a PM for most of it. I hope you will not hate me for this new chapter. But I swear, even if they struggle, I stay a true NaruSaku Fan with you! Hold the fight for NaruSaku!_

 _Guest: Thank you! I will keep publishing if my reader keep telling to do so. I love them too adult when their feeling mature with them. I hope you will continue to enjoy the story!_

 _Naru285:Thank you! If you prefer to wait for a corrected chapter, I think that my beta reader should catch up with me in one month. So it's up to you to wait for it if you want. Thank you for your review, I glad that you like my story._

 _Aysiahime: yeah! How could she have been so blind to not see him all along! but let's correct this mistake together!_

 _Crazyprankster1991: I was waiting for your review ;) Thank you!_

 _ **Chap**_ _ **ter 8: The Ramen tradition**_

Sakura swear, it wasn't deliberate to plan the whole trip behind his back. She did attempt to inform him, that she was fine enough to run. But it's true, she didn't insist much, when her teammates argued. She could have find thousands of alibis, should she had wanted. The reality was that she absolutely didn't wanted to let go of him, and it was only at night when the blond let her down.

The blond counterfeit released the prisoner unceremoniously, before Naruto dispelled the sapped clone. The man groaned, prompting the ninja to kneel in front of him. "Awake? Huh?"

Sakura had settled on a tree stump; her face having recovered some more color, thanks to the rest and being on the firm land. Naruto stole a subtle glance over his shoulder at his partner, before he turned again to the man. "Don't even think of looking at her, or you ain't be needing your eyes anymore." His intimidation sent a shudder down the man's spine, as he nodded vigorously, scared to death by the blond shinobi.

Naruto stood up, stretched his arm, back and then informed Sakura that he will put some seals around them, and hunt them some food for their dinner. The tall figure retreated in the dimness of the wood, with her eyes lingering onto him, until he was completely out of sight.

Sakura them approached the prisoner. The man instinctively shut his eyes, not fancying the thought of the blond living up to his threat. The kunoichi took out from her pouch a dark small pill, and stuffed one into the man's mouth. "Soldier pill. Should keep you alive enough, until your fate got decided by the Damyo." The pinkette muttered, ousting the thought of her trying to poison him.

The man made a sour face, but he still refrained from opening his eyes. Sakura's left eye twitched once, and a nerve began throbbing in her temple. She wasn't an object to be ignored. Her fist then grabbed his collar and shook him. "Listen to me, little scumbag. At least, look me into the eyes and thank me!"

The prisoner shivered. They were scary, both of them. "I-I can't! Your husband would kill me if I look at you!" He stuttered incoherently.

The pinkette chuckled at the extent of Naruto's intimidation. "Naruto would never do that. He's the kindest man I know. He would never go for a kill, if he can avoid it."

The man gritted his teeth, to be laugh at by an insignificant female. He knew what he saw. This blond would have no pity, if he disobeyed him. Those eyes won't lie. "You say that because you're in love! Your husband is a damn jealous one! He would kill me for sure!" He argued back.

Sakura was taken aback. "Naruto jealous?" She asked curiously. "He's not really my husband... but it was just an act for the mission." She muttered, a little depressed at the recollection of it all being just pretense.

The prisoner huffed. "Husband, Lover... call him whatever you want. He still said, he would pluck my eyes if I looked at you."

She gasped. _Naruto jealous..._ _Could it be?_

Naruto returned with fish. Water was dripping from his hair, but after so many scolding, the blond seems to have finally learnt not to walk around 'naked'. He was wearing at least his pant. He grilled the fish, and gave her one. Their eyes met, and he tore his gaze away, unsure of his self-restrain. Too silent for his normal-self, she noted him sitting on a tree stump, at the opposite of their fire-camp.

 _Huh?_ _Could it be, he is self-conscious of me? Naruto... tell me... do you like me?_ Sakura couldn't muster the strength to express her thought. She peered down on her fish, certain that her courage would vanish, if she looked at him.

"Naruto."

She paused, taking a bite, almost conceding on telling him. She gulped it down with difficulty. Her throat was so tight, that she almost choked out on the small piece of food. She was aware of his eyes boring into her to continue. She was compelled to resume.

"I..." She hesitated. "You are really important to me." Sakura blurted, her cheek burning.

That was the closest of a love declaration, she could do for then. The pinkette glanced briefly at him. His face morphed into different expressions, surprise, confusion, cynical, and then a smile.

"Yeah! You are important to me too Sakura-chan!" Naruto sang cheerfully.

She sighed profoundly. _This idiot has misunderstood me. He probably thinks, I have told it as a friend._ She couldn't say more. Not tonight. She will try to make him understand, when they would have returned back at the village. _After all, it's not like he will leave or anything, we can take it slowly._

Naruto bite happily into his fish. _I'm important to her! That's wonderful! Even if it's only as a friend... I'm so happy!_ He wanted to bounce around. He was important to her! That one declaration from Sakura was having such effect on him. She was so important to him too. So much that he would do everything he could, to make her happy!

After dinner, they settled for a short sleep, before they hit the road. From his makeshift bed, the blond had a nice view of her face. She was already sleeping, certainly exhausted. The moon was piercing through the cloud, and through the thick canopy of trees, as the pale light imparted an ethereal glow upon her. She was so beautiful... there was no other girl, who can compare to her in his heart. He was a volunteer prisoner of her, even if he had to love her from the shadow his whole life. Naruto touched his lips remembering their kiss and smiled subconsciously. He already got his little piece of dream. A dream he would cherish forever.

They departed few hours later, with more than couple hours to spare to dawn. Sakura insisted that she was fine. Reluctantly, Naruto obliged, and hauled their prisoner. The blond yawned. He would have loved to sleep a little longer... and if possible, with a certain pinkette in his arm. He stole a subtle glance of her, she was following him just fine today. She really had an impressive chakra reserve. Sakura noticed him, and smiled at him. It was so good. He felt so much relieved, since she had told him that he was important to her. It was like telling him that she forgave him for the inappropriate kiss, that they were still friends.

By the late hours in the afternoon, the little group had approached the tall Konoha gate. A last leap, and they found themselves in front of the gate's guards. The two men stood straight at attention.

"Hey! Welcome back Naruto-sama! Sakura-san!"

Naruto smiled sheepishly at the extreme admiration. Since the end of the war, people had curiously begun to call him that. Sakura giggled at her companion's reaction, and nudged him. "Don't be so surprised Naruto... after all, you are our village Hero!" Her boisterous teammate laughed shyly. It was cute!

The blond scratched his cheek, embarrassed and sent her a timid side-way glance. "Thank you, guys! And, we should go Sakura-chan..."

Naruto and Sakura wouldn't have walked more than few blocks into the village that already four girls popped out of nowhere, recognizing the blond ninja. "KYYAAA! Naruto-sama! You've cut your hair!" The girls were profusely drooling in front of their handsome Hero. "KYAA!"

Sakura gritted her teeth, her fist itching to take snap at them. The entranced girls took one step forward, and then their body froze. The murderous glare that was fixated at them, promised unadulterated pain. The girls shrieked, holding onto each other out of fright. _A DEMON!_ And, just as fast as they had appeared, they were gone, leaving dusts in their wake.

Naruto looked dumbfounded at the absconding girls. _Why did they run away? Kurama didn't showed up..._ He blinked and blinked again. Girls were the one, he understood the least in this village. They brought him gift one instant, attacked him on other occasions, and sometime flew away like their life depended on it. And the girl next to him was the biggest mystery of all time. Sakura was yanking him roughly toward the Hokage's tower. Why was she mad at him? They were not late after all.

Unfathomable indeed.

They barged into the Hokage's office, the Hokage's assistant following apologetically behind the two ninja. "Sorry Hokage-sama... Naruto-sama refused to wait, even when I told him that you were going to a meeting."

The gray-haired Hokage peeked over his book. Naruto gritted his teeth, and pointed an indignant finger at his former teacher. "Don't tell me you were slacking off! I won't do your paperwork ever again!" The blond yelled.

Kakashi stuffed away his book in his drawer, and smiled at them judging by the gleam in his visible eye. "It's only for your own good Naruto... it's to prepare you to become the next..."

The blond lifted a curious eyebrow. "Don't sweet-talk me, you're the one, who teach me how to do it! I'm not doing them, until I took your spot!" Naruto came forward, and dropped his prisoner on the floor. "Mission accomplished!"

The prisoner groaned at the impact, and Kakashi glanced briefly at the man. The Hokage then made a gesture prompting an ANBU to pop out at the window. "Yes Hokage-sama?"

With a seriousness that was absent one second before, Kakashi ordered coldly. "Take this man to the prison." The ANBU guard picked up the man like a potatoes bag, and vanished.

The Hokage had another mood swing, and he joyously focused onto his favorite ninja team. "So? How did it go?" He inquired.

Naruto threw two copy jutsu scroll on the desk. "You will find everything in there to prove his guiltiness." The blond muttered, letting Sakura continue with the rest of briefing.

Kakashi nodded appreciatively. "I knew from the beginning that you would be perfect for this mission..." He smiled at them with a conspiratorial feeling around him. "Oh! Naruto... your haircut suit you well! You really have the beauty of your mother... I like you better like that."

Naruto crunched his nose in disgust to be to the taste of the older man, and Kakashi laughed standing up. "Ok! Come with me now... I'm late for my meeting, and you will be my excuse for my tardiness."

Naruto and Sakura glared at their former sensei, arms crossed over their chest at being labeled as scapegoat. "As if we were the one at fault here." Naruto mumbled.

Sakura shook her head. "I bet, he is already over two hours late."

The gray-haired man grabbed them both by the shoulder and yanked. "How mean you are to your Hokage! Come on, it will be fun!"

They walked to the meeting room, Kakashi being in front of them obviously. He leisurely opened the door, prompting two simultaneous loud gasps behind him. "Yo! Sorry for the delay Sasuke-kun! I got a typhoon barging into my office!"

Sasuke growled irritably, over-pissed off at the five hours wait, and the lame excuse to honor his patience. He turned around to face the Hokage, and froze. "Naruto!" He said, surprised to see his friend.

In one happy jump, the blond was in front of his friend, and then punched him into his shoulder amicably. "Hey Sasuke! You're back!"

Sasuke lips formed into what seems to the closest thing to a smile, and punched Naruto back with the same enthusiasm. "They told me you were on a mission!" The former rogue ninja uttered.

The blonde's smile broadened. _Sasuke is back!_ "Yeah we just arrived with Sakura-chan." He said jerking his thumb over his shoulder, at his teammate. His smile faltered. Sakura was petrified. Her eyes so wide that her iris looked like jade pearl.

The dark-haired shinobi nodded in acknowledgement to greet her as she murmured his name, still entranced at his presence. "Sasuke-kun..." Something in Naruto's chest broke then. But the blond retailed a smile on his face.

"Well, I will let you with your teammate. We will talk tomorrow instead." Kakashi offered.

Naruto looked back and forth between his two friends, the inexpressive Sasuke, and the stunned Sakura. "Ah! What do you think, if we go at Ichiraku for a ramen?" Naruto said cheerfully, even if his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Sakura's attention drew back to her blond teammate. _He seems not his usual self._

"Jeez, you are still eating that stuff? How on earth did you survive until now?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto returned an angry face to the dark-haired man, daring him to speak another word. "What are you implying Teme?" He was ready to fight, if it means to defend the honor of his precious ramen.

Sakura walked to Naruto, and grabbed his arm, tugging him toward the exist. "I know it's not healthy. But it's now a team 7 tradition, to eat ramen at the end of our mission... come with us Sasuke-kun!" She invited him, smiling sweetly. The dark-haired man huffed in annoyance, but followed them regardless.

They arrived at Ichiraku and at the time, Sakura was chasing away the 'hero' fangirls, to eat in peace, when an ANBU popped out, before they even got the chance to get settled inside the bar.

The man took off his mask. "Back from your mission? So, it's team 7 Ramen time!" Sai chirped happily, and finally noticed the presence nearby Naruto. The dark-haired men glared at each other, both with scorn into their eyes as to compete for their place in team 7 and Naruto's friendship.

Sakura found herself left out, when she turned back to seat. All the spot near Naruto were already taken, Sai on the left, and Sasuke on the right, both of them still continuing their staring contest while Naruto ordered a ramen, oblivious of the drama unfolding around him. She sighed deeply, her boys were so childish sometime! _Naruto's friendship was limitless! Were they idiot to not understand that?_

The pinkette grabbed the seat beside Sasuke. It was so strange to have him here with them. Was he planning on staying this time? She studied the profile of the man, since she had chased him around her whole life. He was as handsome as ever, this mysterious aura around him, his perfect face and her eyes then encountered cerulean blue eyes at the back. Naruto's eyes sucked her attention away of her scrutiny. Those expressive eyes were creating such an odd feeling inside her. As soon as he noted that she spotted him, Naruto went back on eating his ramen bowl, leaving her confounded about that peculiarity into those cerulean eyes.

Ayame brought the other ramen orders, and exclaimed joyously. "It's bring back memory to see the Team 7 here!"

Sai frowned. "What are you saying? Team 7 always come here after each mission!" The artist insisted.

Sasuke smirked satisfactorily, while eating silently. He was still in the Team 7, along with his old teammates, and not this pale skinny, counterfeit.

The woman excused herself. It wasn't good to upset a regular customer. "Sorry Sai! It's just that, they are the old team... and you're the new team." She tried to reason.

Two black pearl glared daggers at the former rogue ninja. "He could not be called their teammates, after he tried to kill them." Sai stated coldly. He had never forgiven Sasuke, for hurting those whom he considered his friends.

A slam on the table surprised everyone, and dissipated the killing intent of the two-dark-haired shinobis. Naruto stood tall in between them. "Sakura and I have forgiven him. He was into darkness at that time, now it's finish! He's back with us, and he redeemed himself. We all have suffered our own pain, and it's together that we will bring a future without hatred. So, you should accept him too!" Naruto defended Sasuke. _I won't let him be alone and hated by anyone_.

Sasuke glanced up at the figure of the man that saved him all those years ago, taking upon himself all the grief. He could bear the hatred of everyone, as long as he had Naruto's friendship, he would never be alone again. A discreet grateful smile stretched on his lips, and he yanked the blond down.

"It's fine Naruto... just eat your food. You hate it when the noodles are cold, don't you?" Sasuke mentioned, remembering their time together here when they were kids. It was a good idea to have a ramen tradition... it brought back so many memories that made him feel warm inside.

Sai didn't argue anymore either. Naruto was Naruto. His teammate was the only one he knew, who can forget and forgive everyone. Sakura glanced with fondness at the blond man who was slurping his second serving of noodle. Naruto was the type of man, who never abandoned his friends. He was not just attractive, he was also the kindest man she knew, always there for you, when you need him the most. Naruto finished the soup with his traditional loud burp of satisfaction. She giggled in amusement. Some things just never change.

The blond turned to Sasuke. "Hey Sasuke! Where are you gonna stay while you're here? I doubt, the Uchiha's mansion been rebuilt... do you wanna crash at my place?"

The former rogue ninja's eyes met the smiling blue one. "I booked a room in a guest house earlier."

The blond pouted in disappointed. "What a waste! I've rebuilt my parent's house, and it would be fun, if you come."

Sai put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I can come and sleep with you." The artist offered kindly.

Naruto shirked in the air, the hair at the back of his neck standing up, like a frightened cat. "Watch out how you say stuff, dumbass! You can come sleep at my place... but not sleep with me! Got it? We're both guy's, it's disgusting... you do understand the difference?"

Sai realized his mistake, and smiled sheepishly. "It wasn't what I meant at all!" He paused tilting his head. "Wait a minute! So, if it's Sakura, she can sleep with you?"

Sakura spurted her soup, choking out on Sai non-sense. Her cheeks were so warm, that she was sure, her face and hair was undistinguishable. Naruto was not less red than her. The eye-wide blond needed few second to recover from the shock.

Sasuke glanced back and forth at his two teammates. He didn't need a sharigan to know that something was up between those two. Naruto shook his head to clear his mind, and get rid of all those awkward memories of his nights with Sakura.

"No Sai! A boy and a girl don't sleep together. It's common sense!" Now Sai looked genuinely confuse. He began to open his mouth to argue, but Naruto's hand covered it up before he could say anything more. "Shut up Sai!" The stiff blond barked out of embarrassment.

Sasuke finished his bowl. "Thanks for the food. I'm leaving." He fished out his wallet and cleared the bill.

Sakura grabbed his hand. "Wait Sasuke-kun!" The blond quickly glanced at the pinkette inquisitively. "Let's walk back together." She said hesitantly.

The former rogue shinobi nodded silently, but during that particular instant, her eyes met the cerulean gaze from behind Sasuke. Just one second, and Naruto quickly tore his eyes again, for probably umpteenth time that day. But it was already too late. She had never wondered anything would waver her adolescent-infatuation-turned-undying-love for the aloof Sasuke. Nothing until that moment where her whole being was drowned in a whirlpool of deep sea.

When they finally finished their meal. Sasuke sauntered in front along with Naruto, while Sai walked with Sakura behind. She was happy to see Sasuke back, but at the same time, really confused over the peculiarity concerning Naruto. Furthermore, having them both at the same time in front of her, was not helping her to stay calm.

Naruto was mostly making the conversation with his cheerful self. Perhaps, all an act. She was clearly able to see through him. He was not himself. Sasuke was listening in apparent neutrality. They were both handsome, so much, but in such a different way. Naruto was a shining sun, his smile so radiant, and his personality makes him unavoidable and… unfathomable. On the other hand, Sasuke was this surreal beauty, mysterious, nearly spell-bounding. Having two love interest was so complicated. How could she ever choose between a man she had loved since childhood and a man that she grew to love?

"Do you have something on your mind Sakura? Did something happened during your mission with Naruto?" The artist asked cynically.

Sakura jolted back to reality. "Nope! Nothing special!"

The artist scrutinized her. "You sure? Did you have a fight with Naruto? He's not smiling like usual today and you kept looking at him the whole time since we left." Sakura stiffened at the bluntness. Sai was emotionally clumsy perhaps, but his talent at observing makes him distinctly sharp sometime.

At the next corner, an old woman was struggling with her packages, Naruto stopped, and offered her to help carry them to her house. Sakura wanted to help him. It was the perfect moment to be able to confront him on what's been bothering him all this time.

"No thanks Sakura-chan! Sai will come with me, so you should stay with Sasuke." The blond retorted with his fake smile. Sai happily trotted to Naruto with a smile boasting 'see-I-am-his-friend'. Sakura felt left out for the second time that day as she watched the boys disappearing in the shadows. She pouted indignantly at Naruto for preferring Sai at her.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "If you want to go with them..." He began before she cut him out with a smile.

"No! They don't need three people to carry some bags. Let's go back home!"

 **REVIEWS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME**


	9. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANKS TO SILKEN DANCER FOR HER BETA READING WORK**_

 _eight heroes: Thank you for your comment and thank you for your patience_

 _Yojimbra: it's a very nice image to have... I will try to picture it too ;) don't worry, they will have some horny moment at some point ;) thank you_

 _Hydroknight505: It's not really cowardice. He respect her and he want her happy. But he think he is unloved, the boy had so many years of unrequited love to justify his misjudgement. I hope you will still like the story to the end._

 _AquaRules: Sasuke might be the trigger indeed... hope you will like the mess I created ;) Thank you_

 _Naru285: thank you for your comment and for your patience_

 _maxslayer10: I don't imagine Sasuke like a matchmaker, but in some way he is involved into his friends relationship. Thank you, hope you will like the chapter_

 _Troa95: More Dramaaa! I hope you will enjoy it! I am so glad that you like the stories! you might be the only one that have read the draft of the third story, if one day I continue it, remember that I would have thought of your encouragement while continuing it. Thank you very much._

 _RidbyDaSon27: Thank you very much for your comment and thank you for your patience. I was searching for the help of a beta reader to correct this chapter before posting it._

 _XP1228: Thank you very much for your comment and thank you for your patience, I hope that you will like the chapter_

 _Guest: Thank you!_

 _Burt: Thank you on the both side!_

 _Guest 007: I admit that it could have been a good idea to keep the story going on and on with more drama, but at that point when I was writing it, I really wanted to finish it as fast as possible because I was depressed over my writing skill. But I hope you will still like the chapter. I keep the suggestion in mind for another story maybe._

 _Shadownightreaper: Thank you!_

 _SlumberingNight: I already replied to you in PM, but I wanted to insist in telling you thank you again for your support._

 _Guest: Thank you so much for your heartwarming comment! The story is finished, it's only up to my reader if they want to read more of it or if they are fed up. I try to have beta reader correcting the chapter before posting it to make the chapter more easy to read, so it take some time. Thank you for your patience and your encouragement._

 _aize28: thank you very much for your comment and for your patience. I was searching for a beta reader to help me correct the chapter before posting it, sorry for the delay. I hope you will like the chapter_

 _michaeltop10: Team 7 is great together, I agree! Thank you for your comment!_

 _EdKingV: Thank you very much. I am happy that I manage to make you appreciate those stories. Thank you for your comment and I hope that you will like this chapter too._

 _TheHippo1824: Thank you very much for your comment and your patience. I was searching for a beta reader to help me correct this chapter to make more easy to read for my reader. Thank you and I hope you will like the chapter!_

 _Guest/YellowFlash44: I am happy that you were able to understand my point of view via our MP. Thank you for signaling me what you disliked about it. I have wrote a small message at the end to be more clear to my reader and I hope that more people will understand like you my feeling; Thank you to bear a little more with the drama, even in some romance some drama are interesting to bring out what was hidden. I hope you will like the chapter. Thank you!_

 _crazyprankster1991:Thank you very much for your support! It is really heartwarming to know that some people appreciate my work! Thank you for considering my feelings! THANK YOU! I hope you will like the new chapter._

 _Nhwendigo: Thank you so much for reviewing each chapter and sharing with me your thoughts. chap 1/ I found it funny to change the reason why is hair was cut. 2/Really narusaku is the heart of team 7 sai and Sasuke come and go but narusaku forever! 3/I think Sakura is completle denying her feeling toward naruto since a while, just have to look at how she react when naruto receive the deathkiss or when he got hurt to see how much she's into him. 4/Naruto had some great trouble to realize that people like him. look at gaara freindship or when i became a hero after pain attack, he is always surprise to see people liked him. 5/sometime the non sexual act create even more sexual energy than the act itself. 6/Be sure, it will be worth it! 7/ sometime just a little detail is enought to realize something important. 8/don't die! Thank you for your patience, I was waiting for the chapter to be corrected by a beta reader to make it more easy to read by my reader. THANK YOU very much for considerinng my feelings. I am really touched by the thought!_

 _Lunesme:Thank you very much and don't worry for the lemon, this story is in the M section and it is for a reason ;) I thought that I needed some plot to help Sakura realize her feeling for Naruto while letting Naruto enjoy some well deserved proximity with his long time love. Thank you very much! I hope you will like the chapter and stick long enought to read the well deserved ending ;)_

 _ **Chap 9: Just a hunch**_

The rest of her way back home had been more silent and uneventful than when she was traveling with Naruto. Naruto was always so joyous and talkative. His smile drew everyone he met to him. It wasn't just the girls that looked at him completely love-struck, the whole village was buzzing around him. He was just so loved by everyone.

Sasuke, on the other hand, did not smile... not even once. In fact, he didn't show any form of emotion when Naruto was not around. She tried to talk to him. She tried, and stopped fast when he stayed silent, seeming to ignored her. Sakura felt uncomfortable and insecure. She felt so little by his side. She was reverting into the useless small girl with a forehead too big for her face, all her proud confidence gone in a cloud of smoke.

Soon enough, they stopped at her door and by that time, her palms were already sweating. Sakura hadn't been alone with Sasuke for this long in nearly ten years. The first time the former rogue ninja came back to Konoha, she didn't even get to see him, since he stayed in his prison until his departure for his atonement journey. It had been four years since then- four years of holding onto him like a prayer.

"Thank you for walking me home, Sasuke-kun," the pinkette uttered shyly. His dark, night sky eyes looked down at her. To her, he would always be this unreachable dark prince; and she would always feel like the little girl who wanted to exist in his eyes.

Sasuke poked her forehead. "You're welcome, Sakura."

She blushed. He was acknowledging her... "Will you stay with us this time?" Sakura tried.

He stayed silent.

She felt cold and Ino's voice rang in her mind with his definition of her, 'Annoying'.

His eyes darted to the side following a passerby. "I don't know," Sasuke finally replied without niceties.

 _Why would he stay? He never loved me..._ Sakura looked down, disappointed. And then her eyes were attracted to the jade stone on her necklace and she remembered Naruto's smile when he offered it to her. He may have been playing Natsu at the time, but she had felt like the most important person on earth to him. She had felt so loved and beautiful. Actually, she always felt important whenever she was with Naruto. Suddenly, Sakura realized that Naruto always had acknowledge her in everything she was, ever since they had first met all those years back ; he had always been a gentle presence who protected her and encouraged her. Naruto was everything she had ever needed and so much more.

Her eyes lifted up to meet Sasuke, she was more confident. She had grown stronger alongside Naruto while they were running together behind the shadow of their friend. Sasuke had been a beautiful dream, but she didn't need an imaginary prince to validate her existence.

"I want you to know that you will always have Naruto and me to welcome you in Konoha if you want to stay." Sakura told him softly. Sasuke was safe, he was no longer trapped in darkness… and he still didn't want her. There was no point for her to chase after him.

Sasuke gasped looking at Sakura shining from self-assurance. It was as if he saw her for the first time, her beautiful inner strength showing up suddenly. Eyes wide open, he stared at her as she waved at him and entered her building. Sasuke felt like he was hypnotized, her gentle smile, her soft pink hair flying behind her, the subtle power of a Sannin oozing from her. It was like she had passed in an instant from the night to the sun.

XXXXX

The old woman warmly thanked the two young men and entered her house. Sai looked at Naruto, feeling quite pleased. The artist felt that he had made a step forward in their friendship. Naruto had chosen him over Sakura. Needing some tips on how to proceed, and hopefully continue the advances in their friendship, he discreetly opened a book. _Close friends show support to help a friend to confide in them. A hug can comfort better than words._ Sai put away his book in his pouch and abruptly hugged Naruto out of the blue. Unexpectedly to him, he received a punch in the face.

"What the hell!" Naruto yelled outraged. "Quit it already! I'm not interested in things like that with boys!"

Sai blinked dumbfounded. _What did I do wrong?_ "The book..." he began.

Naruto face-palmed himself. "Stop with those damn books! I like girls! GIRLS!" screamed the blond.

The artist was confounded. "I like girls too! If you are suggesting that I am homosexual, then you would be wrong. I'm dating Ino." Sai clarified.

Naruto jaw dropped. _Sai got a girlfriend? Shikamaru, Choji and now even Sai!_ "How did you manage to date her?" The blond inquired curiously... _maybe I could borrow this book if it worked that well._

Sai shrugged, "I didn't do anything... actually she's the one who kissed me first."

Naruto's shoulders slumped. _That would never happen with Sakura even in a thousand years. Anyway, book or not, it amounts to nothing... All chances with her are gone with Sasuke coming back._ The blond sighed. The dirty venom of reality painfully squeezed all the blood out of his heart.

For a brief instant, Naruto's face morphed into the purest expression of a tearless sadness. Sai got fascinated. Naruto was the most inspiring person to him. Every shinobi he knew constantly kept their expressions so guarded that it was nearly impossible to witness such a sincere emotion. But Naruto was the finest example of human expression, from joy, to wrath, to sadness. He would try to draw that later, for now he wanted to help the man he called his friend.

Sai hesitated, carefully lifted his hand, stopped momentarily, and then clumsily patted the blonde's shoulder. "Want to talk?" The artist asked, unsure if it was the right way to say it. He hadn't read about that in any book yet.

Naruto's sadness had already disappeared behind a door so thick that only death would open it to reveal all the secrets he hid there. "There's nothing to talk about..." replied the blond, putting his hands behind his head and beginning to walk away in apparent nonchalance.

Sai followed him. "It's about Sakura, isn't it?" the dark-haired man insisted.

Naruto stopped, aghast. _How did he guess?_

Sai's stare fixed him in the eyes. "It's always about Sakura or Sasuke... Oh! It's about Sakura and Sasuke!" affirmed the artist.

Naruto broke the eye contact, lowering his stare to the floor.

"Why don't you tell her that you love her now that you've fulfilled your promise?" suggested Sai.

Out of nowhere, the blond displayed one of the most honest and heartbreaking smiles Sai had ever seen. "Because all that matters to me, is for her to be happy." Naruto muttered earnestly and he teleported, abandoning the artist in the middle of the street.

On the top of the Fourth Hokage's carved face, the Konoha's hero stared pensively at his beloved village. All he wanted was for Sakura to be happy. He wanted to protect the smile of hers that he loved so much. _Damn! It's so painful; it's burning me from the inside out._

He had become so greedy with the passing years. Why couldn't he be satisfied with just her happiness? Naruto gritted his teeth and closed his eyes to fight his inner desire. If Sakura was happy, that was all that mattered. He remembered her eyes on Sasuke, her small hand holding their long lost friend. He would have to witness that more and more… when he loved her so much it was nearly unbearable. How could he see that without breaking? How could he...?

His heart squeezed again at the image replaying in his head. He felt like he was falling into an emptiness devoid of light. So cold! All that existed was that pain. All that he wanted was for her to be happy. But god, why was it so excruciating? His heart released its constriction in a flash of pain chaotically pumping loads of blood all at once, making him dizzy. Naruto breathed in slowly to calm his senses. He had to do something to regain some sanity.

When the blond felt composed enough to hold onto his mask, he jumped down and in some quick move landed at the Hokage window. Kakashi turned to give his late visitor a surprised look. "Naruto? Do you desperately want to do some paperwork to fight some sort of insomnia?" the Hokage said half-jokingly, hoping that the blond would take care of this task for him.

Naruto didn't yell at him, nor smile at his humor. Actually, his face was too serious to presume anything good. The blond entered the office and went to stand at attention in front of the desk, his eyes lost on a point far away. "Hokage-sama! I request a mission."

Kakashi lifted a worried eyebrow. For Naruto to address him as 'Hokage-sama', the situation must be grave. He folded his arms over his chest, waiting for the blond to explain his request.

When Kakashi stayed silent, Naruto glanced briefly at his former teacher. He was in trouble ; Kakashi wanted more. "I want a diplomatic mission to improve my quality as a future leader," Naruto tried.

Kakashi looked unconvinced, frowning at him, and the blond cringed…his old teacher was a difficult opponent.

The Hokage stood up and walked around his student, perusing him from head to toe. Naruto hadn't bathed or changed since his return a few hours ago. There was some dust lost in his hair, proof that Naruto had been lying flat on the floor. From the color of the dust, Kakashi could guess that the blond had been on the Hokage monument, his former student's favorite spot to mope at any time he felt lost.

"I had thought that you would be happy to spend some time with Sasuke now that he's back. But I suppose that your love for Sakura is too strong to just lay low." Kakashi speculated.

Naruto's bluff had been called. "How did you know?" he mumbled, flabbergasted.

Kakashi shrugged, "Just a hunch..." He walked back around to face the blond, eye to eye. "No kidding Naruto. I've been your teacher for long enough to guess that at least...but what do you want exactly?"

Naruto lowered his eyes before uttering. "I just want some time to get over it. You can send me anywhere, even on some random D-rank mission."

The Hokage scowled. "If I refuse, you'll just leave and wander around for a while, right?" Naruto shamefully nodded. The gray-haired man affectionately ruffled his blond hair. "Come back soon..."

XXXXX

Sakura entered her room and dropped her pouch and headband onto a chair. Ruffling her hair with her fingers, the pinkette smiled, going to her bathroom and looking into her mirror's reflection. A proud smirk graced her features. She didn't need Sasuke's acceptance to be who she was. Sakura kissed the small jade pendant. _Tomorrow I will tell Naruto how I feel about him._ After a quick clean up, she went directly to bed with lots of sweet fantasies about how it could be between them from now on.

In the morning, before going to work at the hospital, Sakura decided to take a little detour by her blond teammate's house. She rang the doorbell, and then rang again. After another three rings she paused, tapping her foot and crossing her arms in mild irritation and amusement. How much of a sleepy head could Naruto be to not hear her after five times?

The pinkette glanced at his room's window on the top floor and just jumped to it. The room was empty. _Is he already out this early in the morning?_ He was more the type to sleep in when they didn't have a mission. _Strange_. Sakura jumped back down into the street and wondered where he could have gone. Ichiraku wasn't open yet. _Training?_ She walked to their usual training field. The place was nearly their private training ground and looked like a battlefield. The land had been completely reshaped between her punch impacts and his jutsu explosion. Sakura expected to see her favorite blond head running around and fighting imaginary enemies, but instead, she just found her other teammate drawing, sitting on a pile of shattered rocks.

"Sai! Did you see Naruto today?" she asked while approaching him.

Sai stopped his pencil mid-movement. "No I lost sight of him yesterday night..."

Sakura looked over his shoulder at his sketch and gasped at the abstract. It was so powerful that it overwhelmed her. He glanced at the pinkette and noticed her expression. "I have a name for it..." He commented in his usual monotone, "Tearless sadness."

Sakura did not move. She felt her heart constricting just looking at it.

"Actually, Naruto inspired me on it," Sai confessed to her.

She twitched at the mention of Naruto's name and what it meant. "W-what?" the pinkette stuttered.

His stare turned cold. "Don't play dumb Sakura. You could guess that he would be sad to lose you to Sasuke." This was one of those moments where emotion showed on the usual impassive pale face. "He loves you so much that he selflessly chose to withdraw and let you be happy with mister rogue ninja." Sai spat out.

Sakura gaped. _What is he saying? He's wrong... that wasn't it!_ "I need to talk to him!" She exclaimed, already running toward the Hokage tower. This was the last place where Naruto could be...

She ran, ran as fast as she could. Her heart was beating so fast. _Why is this idiot jumping to conclusions by himself?_

The pinkette arrived at full speed inside the tower and didn't slow down, jumping the stairs at a blinding pace. Out of breath, Sakura put her hand on the doorknob. Her heart pounded in her ears and deafening her senses. She gathered the last ounce of her courage to face him and opened the door.

In the office, Kakashi lifted non-surprised eyes over the tall pile of paper covering his desk. Being Hokage was no fun and his face appeared greyish having to have pulled an all-nighter again. With his late visitor, he got behind schedule, but he couldn't have avoided it. Naruto was the type of man that could not be taken lightly when desperate. And he had been very desperate last night.

Sakura breathed hard searching with her eyes for any sign of the blonde's presence. The desk in the corner that had been installed for him to work with the Hokage was empty. Naruto was not here either...

She felt like crying. Her lower lip trembled while her eyes stayed stuck on the place where she was used to seeing him. She remembered his smile every time she would come to drop off her medical report to the Hokage. She had been so blind all along. All those years! Blind and dumb... Naruto had always been by her side.

"Kakashi-sensei..." her voice broke. "Do you know where Naruto is?" a tear escaped. Sakura hadn't been able to shake off the feeling of fear that took possession of her since she saw Sai's sketch.

Kakashi paused and studied her. _Those two kids!_ Her hair was a mess from her wild race to the tower, her cheeks were heated pink, and rapid puffs of air made her breast rise and fall quickly. _She really went all out to arrive here_.

"Why do you want to know? Do you have some business with him?" the Hokage inquired seriously to decide if he should give out Naruto's location. Kakashi got all the answer he needed when she turned her face to him. Tears were falling unstoppably- big drops of clear water, one after the other, leaving her eyes creased as she tried to contain them while still looking at him.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura uttered his name like a plea, "I..." her voice wavered as if her throat was too tight to say more. "I need to see him."

The gray-haired man put his pen down onto his scroll and contemplated the kunoichi, hesitating once more as he tried to choose the best course of action. _Those two!_

"He is gone," He eventually sighed.

Her whole body shook. _Gone!_ All her blood left her face and she nearly fainted at the realization.

Kakashi observed her and decided to calm her down. He didn't need to have his two best ninja breaking down. "He will come back eventually, he wanted some time." the Hokage explained, hoping to alleviate her distress.

Sakura felt angry at herself for not having deciphered the meaning of his gaze the night before. She felt angry at Kakashi for having let Naruto go. She felt angry at Naruto for having left on his own. "Eventually?" She roared, tears flooding her eyes. "Where is he? I will bring him back!" The pinkette declared, determined.

The gray-haired man smirked under his mask. The solution to his problem had come faster than he had expected. Certainly their last mission had triggered something in her brain. When he had allowed Naruto to leave, the Hokage had originally thought that she would come to him in a couple of weeks. Those two were never apart more than three weeks after all. Kakashi was sure that she could go and bring him back in the blink of an eye. But if Sakura was just going after her precious 'teammate', it would not solve Naruto's misery. Perhaps it would be better to let the boy have some time to evaluate the other possibilities of his love life. Naruto was without a doubt good looking enough to attract a girl, and giving up on Sakura might just open his eyes to these other options surrounding him.

"Why do you want him back?" Kakashi asked bluntly.

Sakura blushed. It was difficult to confess her feeling in front of her former teacher.

"If you don't know why or don't have a good reason, just let him be!" he concluded harshly, hearing no reply from her.

Sakura tensed, every single cell within her body awakening as if she had been pushed to the extreme end of a cliff. The pinkette tightly closed her eyes, ready to make the big jump and let it out.

"I love him!"

Saying it out loud for the first time was like a slap, sharply making her realize how true the statement was. She had loved him longer than she'd first thought. It was just that she had tried to ignore this feeling. But Sakura realized now that it had subtly built up within her, hidden behind Sasuke's shadow. But now it was perfectly clear!

She loved Naruto. Naruto, and not a stupid childlike fairy-tale fantasy. Naruto, with all his flaws and his incredible qualities. Naruto, who had always supported her in everything.

Her stomach made a flip over itself waiting for Kakashi's answer.

XXXXX

 _AUTHOR NOTE: For those that complain that I ask for feed-back, I want to remind them that English is not my first language. I had needed lot of work to write it and even more to make it corrected. Just to give you a small order of idea, I have worked over 1000 hours between my two stories and I am still under the truth of how much work I had needed for this. I love to write and I have done it for free, to share it with people. But I have absolutely no obligation to continue to publish, if I have no reader._

 _A clic on the page doesn't mean anything (it could be a mistake), a favorite or a followed story is already nicer, but the reader could have grown tired of my story in the middle and gave up on it (I do that a lot too, if the story doesn't interest me anymore). So the only way for me to know if my story have been appreciated, to know what was good and what was bad, is through my reader who comment. You can call me selfish, unworthy or whatever you like. But I need to know how my work is received to continue to work and make work other people (many beta reader have generously gave me some of their time for this stories, I don't want to bother them for nothing)._

 _It's not only about being praised, I admit that it give me hope and motivate me to see that people have liked my work, I accept constructive criticism as it help me grow as a writer. I do feel insecure every time I post a chapter and I don't have any more time left to work for something that it is not appreciated. I have worked 100 time harder than when I write in my native language. My job is done and if the matter was just to write for my own pleasure, I can stop publishing already. But you have to know, that I never ever wrote just for me. I always had in mind what my reader would think or like, how I could surprise them, because I love to share more than anything else. But sharing could not be in one way only for me. So if nobody think it is a decent story enough to write a review, I will just pass on publishing it._

 _Thank you for understanding my motive!_

 _ **Please review if you want to read more of my work!**_


	10. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANKS TO SILKEN DANCER FOR HER BETA READING WORK ON IT!**

 _Yojimbra: It was not a cliff... it was a water hole ;) No Kakashi answer have nothing to do with Sakura canon confession... I had keep that for another story ;) thank you!_

 _Guest007:hahaha, you might like this chapter! Good guess! Thank you!_

 _Hydroknight505:It's all thank to my beta reader who make my work bearadble with english. I am really happy that you like my stories and hope you will continues to like them._

 _Danny Ketchum: Thank you so much! I still can't understand why Kishimoto had decided to go for Hinata, except because she is completely submissive and have big breasts. Anyways NaruSaku are just too cute together!_

 _RigbyDaSon: Thank you! I hope you will like the fall from this cliff hanger ;)_

 _michaeltop10: Thanks! I hope you will like the chapter ;)_

 _eight heroes: thank you! The update is here... normally each chapter are published every 10 days except if I don't find a decent Wifi on the road or if I become to depressed to post. So keep reviewing to keep me motivated! ;)_

 _fusionplays247: thank you!_

 _RaphDaSwordsman: thank you!_

 _AquaRules: This is a short story so the ending will arrive soon no worries ;) Thank you!_

 _EziogreatNaruto: Thank you! The update every 10 days if the public is here to read and review. For the Teme, he begin to see her for the first time_

 _nico2883: Thank you for the suggestion, it could have been but it might be into another story... may be my next story ;)_

 _EdkingV: Thank you so much!All your questions are interesting one and can be the subject of more chapter or sequel (I keep them in mind, if I have the courage to go and write that much more). Thank you for motivating me to keep writing._

 _Animenerd1995: thank you!_

 _Guest: thank you guest! Don't feel shy to write me a review here and there when you appreciate a chapter. It is really important for the author. I have read so many stories that have been abandoned by author and I know why. It is so painful to have no echo of you work, to think that you fail, that your work is not good enough. Each chapter are a tone of work for the author and the beta reader. It please us to see that someone was touched enough to leave a word, even just one. I doubt in my native language when I write too, English is just harder as I wonder if the word I used is the right one, if it make sense. Thank you to have take the time to tell me your thoughs, they are really precious to me. Thank you!_

 _Troa 95: Your pleasure is my biggest reward! Thank you to share so much with me! Thank you to have been with me from the start to here! I don't have forget the third story... I am in a kind os a writing block... but I will overcome it somehow._

 _Burt: thank you! Hope you will like the next again ;)_

 _TheBobRossArmy: Thank you!_

 _Guest: Thanks... the last chapters arrive_

 _lakeya2700: thank you! Update every 10 days approx depending on the reader/reviewer and if I have Wifi ;)_

 _crazyprankster: thank you! I love your ideas! But unfortunately, the story is written already... finishing the correction mostly and to be honest to write your plot, I would have needed to add so much more chapters and when I wrote this story, I was so depressed with the little succes of my first one that I wanted to end it fast. That's why it is a short story. Thank you for your support. In some way, your support from now will decide the future of the third story in progress right now and the updating of this one._

 _ **SOON WILL ARRIVE MY NEW STORY:**_

 _ **"**_ _ **All over again..."**_

 _I am just waiting for a beta reader to post it._

 _ **Chap 10: Finding Naruto**_

As soon as Kakashi give her the scroll to allow her to join Naruto on his mission, Sakura ran out of the office, opening the door abruptly in her haste.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!" She told him in parting, regaining her hope as she moved forward without looking. The fact that she was not looking where she was going had consequences, and in exiting – she seemingly collided with a wall which actually turned out to be Sasuke's torso. His right hand was raised, frozen in the movement of preparing to knock on the door and surprise was written all over his face at the unexpected impact.

"Sorry!" Sasuke heard briefly, just spotting a blur of pink passing at top speed without a second glance.

Kakashi, in a first rate place to witness the scene, wondered if she even registered that it was Sasuke that she had run by. After a brief pause, Kakashi invited the frowning Sasuke to enter… After all the door was already wide open. The former rogue ninja came to his desk and inquired about the commotion.

The Hokage smiled mischievously and answered simply with, "Naruto forget to take his beloved partner on his mission."

Meanwhile….

Sakura ran, she ran with all her might. She had to see Naruto. She had to tell him. She ran, she jumped, she flew, all around her was a mess of blur. Scenery morphed into an indistinct picture where nothing mattered. The pinkette didn't stop to rest or to calm her raging breath. She needed to arrive as fast as possible. There was only one goal emblazoned in her mind: the sand village.

Soon, she would tell Naruto everything that she had kept in her heart, and he would smile at her…she would make things right for both of them.

Sakura passed from the familiar shadow of the trees in the land of Fire, to the burning sun of the sand country. The light was blinding and the sand danced around her, accompanied by a scorching breeze. The Konoha's kunoichi wasn't used to this type of environment but she still didn't slow down. She would not!

Dunes! Dunes everywhere! The tall piles of loose sand made running so much more difficult, and yet Sakura pressed on, desperate to reach her goal.

Eventually, the sun settled down on the formidable dunes, the sky blazed with a fiery orange and Sakura smiled, remembering his favorite color. It was like she was getting closer to him. She accelerated her pace searching the depths of her reserves for more power.

The sky turned dark, bringing with it the coolness of the night. A nearly full moon emerged from the horizon line, serenely replacing the bright light of the sun with a more timid clarity. The gentle curves of sand looked like a silver unmoving sea. No matter how far she went, the scenery was the same. Her feet carried her forward, lifting a small cloud of dust on each step. It would only be a few more hours until she could see him.

After that final stretch, Sakura finally reached her goal. It was certainly improper to barge in so late at night when she wasn't expected. However, she couldn't care less at the moment about observing good etiquette. The pinkette stopped at the guard's gate and presented herself.

"I am Sakura Haruno of the Leaf, friend of the Kazekage. I have an important message for the ambassador of the Leaf, Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura made herself look as if she was on an extremely important mission. She didn't completely lie ; her love confession was indeed an important message to her. The Konoha kunoichi presented the Hokage's scroll to convince the guard to inform the Kazekage of her visit.

Once she finally got through security and was allowed to see the Kaezekage, she quickly made her way to his office. As soon as the pinkette set foot in the room, Lord Gaara stood up and came forward, welcoming her warmly.

"Sakura! Naruto didn't tell me that you were supposed to come too..."

She bowed respectfully. "Kazekage-sama! Sorry that my visit was unannounced. I hope I haven't caused too much trouble for you. I came because I have an important matter to discuss with Naruto."

The Kazekage frowned. "I see... He has been more reserved than usual, ; it seemed something was on his mind during dinner this evening". Let me know if I can do something to help solve whatever is troubling him."

Sakura cringed inwardly while keeping a polite smile on her face. She had been the trouble causing Naruto's mind to wander.

"It will be fine..." she assured him. "Can you tell me where to find him?"

Gaara looked surprised. "At this time? You don't want to rest first and talk to him in the morning?" He asked.

 _It's true that_ _it's_ _horribly late. Naruto must be sleeping by now._ The pinkette shyly lowered her eyes and insisted, saying that it truly was urgent she see him now. She couldn't wait even one minute more to see him. Gaara thankfully didn't question her further and called over a guard to show her the way.

As Konoha's ambassador and most respected friend of the Kazekage, Naruto had been installed in the apartment reserved for the highest ranking visitors for the duration of his stay in the Sand Village. To Sakura, the walk to his room seemed as long as the way from Konoha to the Sand village. A long interminable corridor, where the only sound she could hear was the drumming of her heart in her ears. The words she was planning to tell him turned into an infinite loop in her mind. She could not fail!

The guard finally stopped and the pinkette crashed into his back , focused as she was on replaying her scenario. A cold sweat ran down her spine... Naruto was sleeping behind this door. The guard took his leave and she gulped, staring apprehensively at the door. _What if..._ Sakura clenched her fists, she would face whatever outcome she got to her confession.

The knocking sound pulled the blond out of his slumber. He was so tired, he had tried to fall asleep for the past 4 hours and just managed to get a wink of sleep a few minutes ago. Naruto yawned, looking at the hour. _Damn sand people! Is_ _this any kind of time_ _to wake up people?_ He rolled out of the bed and scratched his head while lazily walking toward the annoying sound that came again.

"Ay! Ay! I'm up! One second!"

She heard his voice and her body tensed apprehensively. The door opened, revealing a yawning Naruto, eyes still closed, one hand up in his hair and again a nearly 'naked' body. As if her brain wasn't in enough turmoil, Naruto had to add showing off so much skin to complete her restlessness. His eyelids opened slowly and he finally looked down at his visitor's face.

Naruto gasped, wide eyed. For a second he thought that he had sleepwalked, then wildly thought that he might be under a gentjutsu and tried to dispel it. His vision didn't change. The woman he loved was here, in front of him, in the sand country.

Sakura was blushing, as immobile as him. The entire grand speech she had prepared evaporated in a mist. Naruto was here. She had to tell him. But she felt like fainting. Her heart was too clenched to even beat. She had to tell him. She had to... _Damn stupid heart!_ It was as if it was trying to escape through her throat to jump at him. All her brilliant words became useless because of a more useless body that refused to obey her. Her gaze left the surprised cerulean blue eyes and lowered to his lips.

Those lips. She had incessantly dreamt of them since the closet incident. Her body moved forward on its own and her arms rolled around his neck while she lifted herself to the tips of her toes to reach those insufferable, tempting lips.

So soft. His brain burst alive at the sensation. His Sakura was kissing him. Was his mind playing some trick on him?

Meanwhile, Sakura wanted to taste him again. Her tongue slipped in between his slightly parted lips, shyly caressing her partner in an invitation.

His mind was blown. _It was real!_ He pulled away, breathing hard to regain some sanity. "Sakura-chan!...Wh-what!...Huh...How?...Sasuke...W-why..." Naruto blabbered incoherently. _Ok_ _,_ _my brain isn't working_ _,_ he admitted to himself.

Sakura realized what she had done and took a step back, dropping her arms. The pinkette fixed her gaze to the floor, insecure that she might have been wrong about his feelings.

Naruto breathed in and studied her, still not understanding what just happened.

"B-but Sasuke is back..." he eventually managed to utter in his confusion. He had expected that she would completely forget his existence as soon as their dark-haired friend came back to the village.

Sakura gathered all her remaining bravery, but her voice still wavered, full of fear as she confessed, "I love you!"

Her cheeks burned red and after a moment her eyes glanced up timidly to meet his. He was gaping. _The idiot_ _was gaping_ _!_ She would have found it comical if she wasn't the one on the receiving end of it after her love confession. Anger seeped into her blood. _Does_ _he know how hard it was to confess?_

"Really?" There was a hint of hope in his voice, as if he couldn't imagine it being true but still wished for the impossible.

Sakura understood. She had shunned him for so long that her words were making no sense to him.

Determination shined in her eyes. The pinkette took a step forward towards him and kissed him again softy, so gently that he could have melted under such a warm feeling spreading through his veins. She hid her face in the crook of his neck afterward, still holding him.

"Do you like me, Naruto?" Sakura murmured against his skin not wanting to let him go.

His heart jumped in his chest and Naruto tilted his face to search for hers. Her lips were inaccessible, so he softly kissed her cheek and whispered:

"No, I don't like you..."

She jerked her head up in surprise and her eyes met his loving gaze.

"I love you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto declared, giving her a chaste kiss on her lips this time.

 _He loves her!_ The simple thought was enough for Sakura after feeling like her heart had been put through a rollercoaster, and all her emotions burst forth. She pushed him inside the room while slamming the door shut behind her and kissed him more passionately.

His arms embraced her. He wanted to feel her against him, more, more than ever. Their mouths moved against each other, their tongues battled, dived, explored, caressed. Fire. Fervent desires burned their bodies.

Sakura was intoxicated by him. She was in a whirlpool of passion, his kisses, his hands on her, his skin under her palms. Meanwhile, the way she was kissing him unleashed some wildness in Naruto and he pinned her to the wall. He wanted her. His hand began to open the zip of her top and his mouth kept kissing her, not leaving her for more than a small puff of air. He couldn't get enough.

They abruptly came to a halt in their activities at a knock on the door and jumped instinctively apart at a respectable distance, even though nobody could see them.

"Sakura-sama... I came to inform you that your room is prepared and I can show it to you whenever you like," came a polite voice from the corridor.

Sakura frowned, glaring daggers at the door even if the guard couldn't see her to run away.

"I don't need it! I'm staying here!" She declared loud enough for the guard to hear her.

Naruto looked at her, stunned. "You're staying?" The blond questioned, dumbfounded.

Her glare turned towards him. "Why? Don't you want me to stay?" She replied harshly.

Naruto nodded his head. _Sure I want... But_ _didn't she feel_ _his_ _member_ _awakening_. The guard wished them a good night and Naruto scratched his cheek, embarrassed. He couldn't tell her 'not to stay'. He wanted so much to sleep with her again. However, it was not safe.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto began, unsure.

The pinkette kissed him on the cheek. "I want to stay with you tonight," was her whole explanation before turning her back to him and looking around the room.

 _Does_ _she know what_ _she's risking, staying with me_ _?_ he wondered.

"Where's the bathroom, Naruto? I'm all dusty from the trip, I want to clean up before sleeping." Sakura asked, opening a closet door.

Naruto bit his lips, restraining a moan. Her bra was showing a little from the unzipped part of her top. He was going to explode silently from excitement tonight. It seemed she was unaware of the danger he posed. _She must think that_ _we're going to_ _be sleeping innocently together like on our mission._

"The bathroom is on the left, Sakura-chan. Do you want a t-shirt and shorts to change into?" the blond offered, not letting his distress leak into his voice. She accepted and disappeared with the clothes he gave her.

Naruto paced back and forth in front of the window. He still could let her take the bed and he would sleep on a chair. Naruto tried to breathe to calm himself. He could try to meditated the whole night to contain his desire. His reasoning got interrupted when Sakura showed up all freshen up from her shower. She was wearing only his t-shirt and she dropped his shorts on a chair nearby.

"Your shorts are too big for me..." She told him nonchalantly.

 **NO REVIEW = NO UPDATE**

 **For the perverted one, you can expect something hot next chapter ;)**


	11. Chapter 12

_**CHAPTER CORRECTED THANKS TO SILKENDANSER FOR HER BETA READ WORK**_

 _eight heroes: thank you! enjoy it!_

 _Lakeya2700: thank you! Next is... read to find out ;)_

 _Guest: thank you, I hope you will like it :)_

 _LaDdraig:thank you! Finally.. finally! They were ready to explode XD_

 _Guest 007: there is no massage but I hope you will like it ;) thank you!_

 _EziogreatNaruto: thank you! I am sorry, I was really depressed when I wrote this story and ended up making it short. Maybe the next one if I have support, I will be motivated to work longer_

 _TheBobRossArmy: thank you! I hope you will like the chapter_

 _crazyprankster1991: thank you! I hope you will like it!_

 _Animenerd1995: thank you! I hope you will like the chapter with some lemonade ;)_

 _acevedojuan837: thank you!_

 _Yojimbra: thank you! I hope you will like this one :)_

 _michaeltop10: thank you! Yeah something is coming ;)_

 _RigbyDaSon27:_ _thank you! Hope you will like the chapter_

 _PinKrystal: narusaku forever! Yeah there's some lemon in it! Hope you will like it_

 _Hydroknight505: thank you! Here the end, hope you'll like it_

 _Troa95: Sakura is a quite forward girl once she decided for something. You can wear you perveted grin for this chapter ;) . If I was Sakura, I would certainely have raped Naruto lon ago! Thanks!_

 _Time Reflects: XD thanks_

 _AquaRules: I think you have a thing for the boyfriend t-shirt hehe ;) I hope how she will act here *perverted grin on*_

 _Dieinhappiness: thank you! Hope you enjoy the chapter_

 _EdkingV: Naruto would agree with you ;) thank you! Hope you will like how it turn out_

 _Metriqs: thank you! Hope you will like it and review._

 _ **LEMON! LEMON! LEMON!**_

 _ **Public underage should skip until the part "EPILOGUE" at the end of the chapter**_

 _ **Chap 11: Unpredictable Naruto**_

Naruto nearly got a nose-bleed from the sight of her wearing the boyfriend type t-shirt. _Wait! Am I her boyfriend?_ His shocked train of thought was interrupted when Sakura came to him and hugged him tenderly, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

She relished in his warmth, she had missed it so much. It was all clear to her. She felt at home with him… he _was_ her home. Warm. Joyous. Tender. She trusted him with her life and there was nothing that she wouldn't do for him. And now, standing here with him, she finally realized the depth of their bond.

Sakura tangled her fingers with his and pulled him with her to go to bed. The blond followed her with no resistance, hypnotized. She slid under the lightweight covers and patted the place beside her to invite him to get in the bed too.

His eyes went back and forth between the mattress and her face a few times, sometimes taking a small detour to peek at the curve of her breasts suggested under the fabric of his t-shirt. She was not wearing a bra and the evidence was making it hard for him to control his erection. The blond swallowed, with some difficulty, the lump in his throat caused by his increasing excitement. _Think about something boring: politics...mathematics...ninja history...Oh God! It's not enough... It's growing! It's growing!_

Naruto quickly hid under the covers, hoping that she wouldn't notice the bulge on his lower half. He stiffened as the pinkette snuggled up against his side, smiling at him. He smiled back a little nervously, trying hard to restrain his desire to ravage her right then and there. This was surreal. Even in one thousand years, he never would have imagined that Sakura would be the one confessing to him, and there was no way he was going to ruin everything by forcing himself on her.

Meanwhile, Sakura was a little frustrated at Naruto being so reserved, especially when compared to his boldness as Natsu." She had thought when they kissed earlier that he wanted her, that he wanted to touch her… and she had very much wanted to feel him, and still did. Why? Why did he stop? Did he still doubt her confession? Her finger drew some imaginary lines on his chest ; she wanted so much to caress him, but she didn't dare use her full hand to have more contact with him yet.

"Why are you so tense, Naruto? Don't you want to be with me tonight?" the pinkette asked cutely, locking eyes with him, a small pout on her lovely lips.

She was too damn cute for his sanity and his fingers gripped the bedsheets to help restrain himself from doing anything that he would regret. Restraint became even more difficult for him when her finger grazed his nipple, sending a jolt of electricity to his groin. He shuddered at the sensation and a load of blood invaded his already stiff erection.

Sakura curiously watched his change of expression. Was it her questions that were making him bite his lips? Another shudder wracked his frame, and something in the back of her head told her that it wasn't her words that were getting this particular reaction and her eyes suddenly noted where her finger was. She blushed, seeing his nipple standing erect under the tip of her index finger, and the flush only deepened as she suddenly recalled her anatomy lessons. _Those are erogenous_ _zones_ _, with..._ Her gaze lowered and she swiftly spotted the tent in the covers. _Oh_! Her blush darkened at the realization. He was hard!

The moment her eyes left his, he followed her stare and panicked as she undoubtedly noticed the state he was in. "Sakura-chan! I can explain! I-I..." Naruto tried hurriedly to flatten the obvious deformation, covering it with his hand. "Don't worry! I'll stay as good as gold. I won't even move an ear!" He promised with a mix of panic and sincerity.

Mostly over her shock, she looked back at his face. He was blushing maybe even more than her. Sakura giggled , thrilled to find out he was so sensitive to her touch. Daringly she pinched his nipple and his whole body jerked.

"Whoa! Sakura-chan! Wh-What are you doing?" he tried to push her hand away and she frowned.

 _Hasn't he guessed yet what I want from him?_

Sakura moved her face closer to his and claimed his lips in a long deep kiss. She didn't want to run away from him anymore. She would show him here and now that she loved him. Her tongue invaded his mouth and instinctively he responded. In a split second, his body was ablaze. They exchanged saliva, their tongues dancing around each other. After a moment, Sakura lifted herself a bit to have better access to his mouth and in doing so, her hair fell, creating a curtain around their faces. Some pink locks brushed against his cheeks, while others tickled his neck. Naruto felt as if every fiber of his being was made hyper-reactive at her touch. His mouth moved with a will of its own, and he knew if he didn't stop soon, he would lose all sanity and control over his desire to devour her completely.

"Sakura-chan..." he mumbled out of breath, breaking the kiss. The pinkette continued kissing his jaw and started going down his neck, which was making it very difficult to concentrate on protesting. "Don't test me! It's too difficult...hnnnn…." His hand gripped her shoulder, wavering between the desire to let her continue and the necessity to make her stop. "I love you so much, Sakura-chan! Please, I can't…! " he groaned, distress leaking into his voice with his plea.

Seeming to ignore him, her hand traveled down, and his skin felt like it was burning under the light touch of her fingers on his torso. The blond gasped as her fingers curled around his shaft through the bedsheets. His brain exploded from the wave of sensation. It was a real miracle to him that he didn't cum just from the excitement of having her touch him.

Sakura looked at him, her face painted carmine with her boldness. So this place was obviously much more sensitive, she noted. Her hand began a gentle stroking movement on his hard member and she immediately grew enthralled by the expression on his face. There was something terribly entrancing in the way his pupils dilated, and his lips parted to expel the most erotic sounds she had ever heard. Her blood turned to lava in her veins just from watching him. His pleasure was making her crazy, a tingling sensation in her lower belly making her rub her thighs together to have some sort of friction.

"Sakuraaaahh!" Naruto moaned, his breathing labored, his head a nonsensical mess from lust.

She tenderly caressed his whiskers and murmured sensually in his ear, "I love you too, Naruto."

Naruto snapped at her confession, lunging up and flipping their positions as if he suddenly got free from some invisible chains. His eyes were fiery, possessed by an indescribable hunger, as he hovered above her. "Tell me that again!" the blond demanded with urgency coloring his voice.

Sakura smirked confidently at him, "I. Love. You. Na-ru-to." She pronounced each syllable very clearly to be sure he understood her. Fixing him in the eyes, her hands lightly squeezed his cock, immediately earning herself a moan from him. He was so sensitive that it was really delightful to touch him. The blond gritted his teeth to restrain the wild desire building up within him at her ministration.

"Stop me! Stop me now, Sakura-chan! Punch my lights out or I won't be able to stop myself!" Naruto pleaded, taking her hand away from his throbbing cock to try and rein himself in.

Instead of a punch, he received a lick on his lower lip and another before her tongue slid between his lips to enter his mouth. There was just so much a man could resist before his desire got the better of him. The kiss immediately turned ravenous and like a beast unleashed the blond swept down on her. His hands began to roam over her body, caressing, groping, probing. He was drunk, drunk with her.

Her hands resumed caressing him too, exploring his chest, his back, enjoying the strong muscles rolling under her palms at each of his movements. He grabbed her hand and broke the kiss. Looking at her with lust filled eyes, he brought her finger to his mouth and began to lick and suck on it. Sakura shivered, electricity running wild from the tip of her finger directly to something in her lower belly. _Whhhaaa..._ She didn't know that fingers were erogenous zones as well. The way his tongue was stroking the pad and his mouth was encasing her finger… it gave her goosebumps all over her body.

His lips abandoned her finger and slid to caress her palm sensually. "What are you doing, Naruto?" Sakura mumbled, troubled. There was something almost demonic in the sensations he was creating. Her entire body was shivering, and she was sure that hands were not classified as erogenous zones normally.

"I want to taste all of you, Sakura-chan." the blond replied without stopping his treatment, his lips moving up more on her arm, leaving a trail of fire on her skin. He frowned when he got obstructed by the sleeve of her shirt and immediately wanted to rip it apart. His ardent blue eyes glanced up at her, and he noted that she was blushing and trembling a little from excitement. A seductive smirk crept up onto his lips. Naruto abandoned her arm and pulled her up into a sitting position. They were now face-to-face, his eyes hypnotizing, piercing through the depths of her soul.

His fingers reached the bottom of her garment and very sensually he pulled it up. At first, Sakura shyly tried to stop him before her breasts were uncovered, but then she became engulfed by the fire in his eyes and her body grew lax and pliant, letting him do as he pleased. His hands guided the cloth above her head, and as her naked skin was revealed, they both blushed more.

His eyes were instantly stuck on the naked chest of the woman he loved. Hesitantly his fingers reached to brush the skin on her breast, and nearly religiously he drew the line of the delicate curve. With difficulty, Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat. She trembled and his eyes rose to meet hers. His hand softly caressed her body, moving up from her chest to her shoulder and without breaking the contact slid along her arm to meet with her hand. He brought her cherished fingers to his lips.

"You're so beautiful… I love you so much, Sakura-chan!" Naruto confessed with tremendous emotion making his voice thick.

The pinkette launched herself at him, draping her arms over his neck. Skin against skin. Heart against heart. Had he really loved her for all these years in silence? Why had she thought that his love was just a petty rivalry with Sasuke? How could she have been so blind? She nearly wanted to cry, overwhelmed by the emotions rushing through her, her heart beating ferociously in her chest.

His big hands caressed her back tenderly, following her spine up and down a few times before dancing on her sides. He gently kissed her cheek in a series of fleeting kisses, continued on her neck as he led her down to the mattress. His lips explored all her skin, searching for all her sweet spots, insisting on more than a few series of kisses and some licks on certain parts where he felt her respond more.

Sakura wriggled under his care, her whole body becoming electric at his touch. Was the night suddenly much hotter in Suna, or had he created a new jutsu to burn her from the inside out? Her blood felt like it was boiling in her veins and the only thing she wanted was to have more of him, to feel him against her... in her. _In her?_ Her crotch was tingling and twitching from excitement.

His head kept going further and further down, eventually licking her belly button while his hands grabbed her panties to pull them out of the way. The fine lingerie rolled down her thighs and he lifted himself up into a sitting position to help the garment go all the way down to her toes. Then, once they were discarded his eyes took in the sight of her revealed pink curls and his cock leaked more pre-cum in anticipation.

He had to calm himself, to keep in control or he would blow even before it began. He was so hard, it was painful. Naruto inhaled deeply to compose himself and kissed and licked her legs from her toes to her most sacred place.

She watched him, fascinated and bewitched, her body moving involuntarily at some mysterious pulses of sensitivity. Sakura squirmed as he passed across her inner thigh ; meanwhile he got intoxicated by her feminine scent.

The blond promptly became curious and glanced at the view down between her legs. Even if he had seen it in many porn books, it was the first time he was seeing a woman's sex in real life and it was Sakura's sex. The sight was compelling him, he wanted to taste her. Some liquid was seeping from the pink folds and he couldn't restrain himself, he had to... Faster, he kissed his way down and rushed forward to lick the tempting liquid. She jerked at the sensation and closed her legs, crushing his head between them.

"Sa-Sakura-chan! Open up! You're crushing me!" Naruto whined, trying his best to open her legs with brute force, but she was so damn strong.

Realizing what she was doing, she shyly opened her legs but quickly covered her private parts with her hand. The blond looked at her, pouting.

"Can't I?" Naruto asked disappointed.

Sakura blushed deeper. The sensation had been good but at the same time it was so embarrassing to have his head and especially his mouth there. But, she supposed, it was part of intercourse, and she had decided to do everything with him, and he really seemed to want to do this… Timidly, she took away her hand and tightly closed her eyes.

"You can..." she mumbled nervously.

He bit his lips. He desired her with all his being, but if she wasn't ready for him to go further, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Naruto lifted himself up with his arms to not stay too close to the temptation.

He forced a smile, "We can stop here, if you prefer..." he began but couldn't finish as the pinkette pushed harshly on his head to put it back between her legs.

"Continue!" Sakura ordered, her face crimson. _This idiot_ _is going to_ _kill me from embarrassment!_

Naruto blinked, shocked by her reaction and did as she wished. The blond darted his tongue on the small bead above her entrance and circled around it. Her body jerked and for precaution, he kept her legs open, holding them with his strong hands. His tongue entered her folds, tasting her and exploring her. He could feel her shudder at each stroke of his tongue and his cock began to hurt badly from excitement. She moaned, thrashing her head from side to side, her back arching, her legs trembling under his palms. He needed to get rid of the pressure in his lower belly. He wanted to grab his throbbing member and stroke it for release.

Sakura surprised him as her hand gripped his hair violently, pressing his head more into her as a blast of warm liquid hit his mouth. She let out a small cry, then her body shook a last time and fell back relaxed on the mattress. She was breathing hard, lost in amazement. _Was_ _this_ _what people call an orgasm?_ She wondered

Naruto gave her few licks on her now very wet folds and lifted up his face to look at his work. She was beautiful, her body glistening with a fine layer of sweat, her nipples perky and red, taunting him each time her chest rose up. His eyes finished with her face and a satisfactory smirk crept on his lips. She possessed one of those after-sex blissful smiles he had seen on some photo before. He was proud to have made her feel this way. He had made his Sakura orgasm.

Sakura opened her bleary eyes, coming back to consciousness and searched for him instinctively. Piecing blue eyes were studying her and if she wasn't already all red, she would have blushed. She called him feebly, inviting him to come to her. He kissed his way up from her sex to her neck before hovering above her. He was harboring a loving smile, while his hand came up to tenderly caress her cheek.

"Naruto..."

How she pronounced his name made him refocus on her eyes. His smile stretched into an apologetic one as she must have noted that he was mesmerized by her lips. Then, the blond gasped as he felt her hand pull on the fabric of his underwear.

"Sakura-chan!"

The jade of her eyes seemed darker as she finally freed his manhood from its confinement. Naruto helped her by taking his underwear completely off. She gasped, glancing at his erect member. It looked more impressive than when it was hidden behind the cloth, larger than what she had imagined, with the skin having a purplish color from head to middle, and some transparent liquid oozed from the tip. She was a medic and she knew exactly what went where. But even in the medical book, penises were never that big. Would it even be able to enter?

Sakura took hold of his penis and the sensation was foreign to her, the skin was oddly soft over such a hard core and was so unexpectedly hot. She guided his member to her entrance and something stirred in her, a mix between fear and hunger. Naruto was shivering from anticipation. He held his breath as he looked deep into her eyes and began to penetrate her. Slowly. Very slowly. It was maddening. She was so wet that he was able to slide inside, but at the same time she was so tight that he had to use some force to gain further depth. She winced at the invasive organ, feeling her insides being stretched. The blond stopped, noting her discomfort.

"We can stop if it's too painful." Naruto offered her.

Sakura breathed hard, trying to get accustomed to him. It wasn't completely unpleasant. She had to admit that having him inside her was thrilling, feeling his sex pulsing slightly inside of her, pressed tightly against her walls, hot and powerful. She had already decided that she wanted to be his tonight, while she wanted him to be hers, completely, in every shinobi life was such, that she could not postpone her happiness.. They could die at any moment, on any mission. She had nearly lost him so often... Now that she had realized her true feelings, she didn't want to be apart from him.

Her hands grabbed his hips and pushed him further in. She bit her lips and he moaned at the sensation. It was overwhelming. She already felt so full of him, and yet he still pushed further inside, retracting slightly and moving forward, more and more. How much was left? God she couldn't take in any more... Naruto penetrated her completely in one last stoke and she gasped, feeling him hit something in her deep core. Her body shook and her nails broke the skin on his back. She tried to relax, to adjust to his size, and was grateful that he didn't start to move right away.

Just entering her was nearly enough to send him over the edge. The blond had felt his cock get more and more swollen at each centimeter he slid inside of her. He could feel her around him, squeezing him with each of her muscle spasms. It was so hot, so tight and wet. He was inside his Sakura and just that fact was driving him crazy. But through the haze of lust consuming him, Naruto kept himself aware of her needs. After a long moment of stillness where they both adjusted to the new sensations assaulting their bodies, he heard her ask if she could be on top to control the movement. He could understand and agreed to it without question. She might be in pain and her being in control of the pace and depth could help if that was the case.

Actually, right now he would have agreed to just about anything she asked of him.

They rolled over without getting disconnected and the new angle, with a full view of Sakura's breasts, made him even more riled up. She slowly began an up and down movement and the sensation was exhilarating. Soon enough, for Sakura the pain was replaced by pleasure. The way his member was filling her up, rubbing against her and repeatedly hitting her inner core was building up something, something bigger than what she had felt with his tongue. Unconsciously, she came to search for it, moving faster and faster.

His hands gripped her hips trying to slow her down. If she continued at this rhythm, he wouldn't be able to hold on for long. He was feeling it coming to an end. "Sakura!" Naruto gritted his teeth. "Sakura! I'm..." His natural instinct over-powered him and his hips thrust upward as his cock swelled up. A massive orgasm shattered his brain, his sperm spurting into her violently.

She felt him suddenly thrust into her deeper, grow bigger, and then a warmth was propelled inside her. Her eyes looked at her lover ; she saw his mouth open in a silent cry, his eyes widen and his pupils spread like a drop of black ink in an ocean of blue. His hands twitched where they were still gripping her hips, his fingers encased in her flesh. Driven even higher by his obvious passion and release, she moved up and down a few times more, and there was something in those last thrusts that broke her and ecstasy washed over her. Her head flew backward, her back arching like a cat.

Sakura let her body fall back onto his chest, breathing hard and still dizzy from the flow of sensations. She didn't get enough time to recover though, because after only a brief moment she felt his hips thrust again. She was shocked. From her studies in medicine, she was quite sure that after a male orgasmed, his penis was supposed to go limp. She looked at him in surprise, and saw that his eyes were shining with a special glow.

Sakura yelped as he threw her on her back and moved on top, entering her with unrestrained enthusiasm, some sticky liquid leaking onto her ass. She was already so sensitive that the new position stimulated her immediately. Her body shuddered at his pumping movements while he attacked her neck with his mouth, nipping, licking and sucking it. Naruto began slowly and steadily, with strong, lengthy strokes. She heard him murmur, "I love you!" repeatedly like a mantra following his thrusts. It was as if he was trying to prove with the fervor of his actions, his feelings") for her. He was passionate, making her burn with his all-mighty love. He was conquering her, making her body jerk at each collision of his tip with her womb. It was maddening and she'd bet that she wouldn't need long before he pushed her again into another orgasm. She could already feel it building and building within her. It seemed that each wave of pleasure was bigger than the previous one.

Unintentionally, she found herself biting him near his collarbone as she completely lost connection with reality, and still he didn't stop. More she moaned, more he plunged, harder and faster. She fell back on the bed, nearly unconscious. He took hold of her legs and placed them on his shoulders; his hands sensually caressing her sides. He enjoyed the curve of her body, the perfect hold he had on her hips. His fingers grabbed the feminine roundness before lifting her lower body with him, keeping them both tightly intertwined. He reaffirmed his hold, pulled nearly all the way out to the tip of his member and slammed back in with frantic vigor.

All the air got pushed out of her lungs and she saw stars. He had been able to make her climax with his first stroke and it wasn't the last. Naruto pounded with such a wildness that she completely lost count of the number of times she exploded with pleasure, everything becoming blank only for her to wake up just in time to be washed over by another orgasm.

Naruto hammered her assiduously, going further and further into the frenzy of excitement. Her muscles were clamping so much around his member that it was difficult to extract it from her, forcing him into short and forceful thrusts. Naruto could feel her warm liquid sliding down his thighs, making him want to drive into her even more. Her insides felt absolutely wonderful, he was completely intoxicated with her. He internally thanked his Sage training that allowed him to hold on for so long despite his unbearable excitation. He wanted to cum again, needing some release for his over-loaded crotch. He was so hard and so swollen that he knew he only had to drive forward one more time and…he exploded. His cock twitched many times, spurting his semen in long shots into her, over filling her until it leaked out in a mix of their essences.

A few tears of ecstasy were lost at the corners of her eyes, some saliva escaping from her parted lips as he pulled out of her, his sperm spilling out on the bedsheets. Sakura was so spent, her mind numb with pleasure, that she didn't immediately realize what was happening. He had a blissful expression on his face, but more importantly, he was still hard.

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, amazed.

The blond turned her around, kissing her shoulder tenderly, and whispered sensually in her ear: "I can't get enough of you...I love you too much!" Naruto gently lifted up her backside and entered her in a languorous movement. His hand traveled across her back in voluptuous caresses. There was love in every one of his movements. He was attentive, scrutinizing all of her reactions to satisfy her with everything he had. His lips kissed her on her nape softly, their bodies melting into each other. Love fueled their encounter far after dawn had traded his pinkish sky for the bright rays of the sun.

XXXX

 _ **EPILOGUE**_

They came back to Konoha two months later and went directly to the Hokage office to report. The gray-haired man, unfazed behind an even bigger pile of paperwork, put his book away in his drawer at the arrival of his favorite ninja team. "My! My! You sure took your time to complete your mission you two!" Kakashi commented with a reproaching tone, even if he was pleased to see them both smiling.

Naruto dropped a scroll in front of the Hokage. "Gaara helped me to meet with many important people in Suna and here is the authorization for the new trading route with Konoha," the blond informed him, very business-like.

The gray-haired man opened the scroll and nodded appreciatively. He smiled at the couple. "Very well Naruto! And you, Sakura? Why didn't you come back sooner? It's true that I told you that you could take as long as needed for your recovery mission. But still..." Kakashi tried to scold her without much conviction but then stopped, seeing her face turn a greenish color.

"Oy, Sakura! Are you ok?" Naruto inquired, slipping a supporting hand around her waist while she hid her face in his shoulder. She nodded and he decided to reply for her.

"It's not her fault, Kakashi-sensei! Gaara offered her full access to the hospital archives after the wedding and she couldn't miss the opportunity to read the work of Lady Chiyo."

Kakashi jumped to his feet and both hands slammed on his desk, making one of the towers of paperwork fall on the floor. "WHAAAT?" the gray-haired man exclaimed, flabbergasted. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Naruto looked at him in confusion. _Why_ _is_ _he so fired up for that?_ _It's_ _evident that Sakura would want to have more medical knowledge. Why_ _is_ _he surprised?_ "She wanted to read the work of Lady Chiyo," the blond repeated calmly.

Sakura lightly smacked his chest. "Idiot! Not that part! This one!" she told her husband, emerging from his shoulder and showing him the ring on her finger.

Kakashi spotted the ring. He didn't need more confirmation. _It was true!_ "You two got married!" the Hokage exclaimed, his sole visible eye wide open and his jaw dropping.

Naruto laughed sheepishly, realizing that people in Konoha didn't know yet. He got so familiar with his marital status in Suna, that he had somehow thought that everybody knew already. He had proposed to her the day after her arrival and Gaara accepted to do the office for them. The blond smiled tenderly at his wife and kissed her hair. His face was the purest expression of happiness when he pressed a gentle hand to her belly and declared:

"And we're gonna be parents soon!"

Kakashi fell on his chair, his legs becoming wobbly. He had let the boy go heartbroken and he came back 'Married' and 'soon-to-be-father'. _Unpredictable Naruto!_

 _ **THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT! I HOPE YOU LIKED THE STORY**_

 _ **MORE YOU REVIEWS AND MORE I WORK!**_

 _ **For those who want more NaruSaku story, I have more story on my profile:**_

 _ **How I fell in love with my best friend (on going)**_

 _ **All over again (soon published, it will depend only of you)**_

 _ **I WANT TO HAVE A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL MY BETA READER:**_

 _ **Chap 1 to 4: Official Nyl**_

 _ **Chap 5 and 7: SavageHunger47**_

 _ **Chap 6,9,10,11: SilkenDanser**_

 _ **Chap 8: Zero10  
**_


End file.
